By Katie Whiteland

“You’re making me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

West Seattle Proxy is back in the swing of things. After taking August off to be with family and enjoy the last few weeks of summer, the youth came together for fellowship, deep discussion… and a viewing of Hollywood’s newest rendition of the “The Incredible Hulk.” While it may seem that Bruce Banner’s struggle against his “hulkness” does not have much to do with our Christian walk, Mars Hill Deacon and Proxy youth leader Alan Andersen disagreed.

After the show, Alan led the students through a series of questions that brought to light the parallels that can be made between this action-packed film and deep theological issues concerning Christians’ struggle against sin. He discussed Romans chapter seven in which Paul describes this constant battle that rages inside each of us. Alan quoted verse nineteen which states, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

Through this discussion, the youth were able to begin linking their battle against sin to Bruce’s battle against his own alter-ego. The Hulk soon came to embody the sin that we often allow to run rampant. The towering, green, mass that tore apart New York City transformed into a symbol of the destruction and desolation that our own sin can cause when we do not allow God to rescue us from our servile relationship with it. Bruce Banner, like Paul in Romans 7:24-25 should have cried, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” That was one truth that Bruce never discovered: that Jesus is the only One who has the antidote.

Proxy youth group has resumed its regular schedule this week.  Small student groups meet in homes throughout the West Seattle and Federal Way areas. Home groups meet each Wednesday following the first Wednesday of the month and will include a Bible study, dinner, and hang out time. On the first Wednesday of each month, all groups will congregate at the Church’s building for an all-Proxy meeting.