Warning: Spoilers ahead for anyone who has not yet seen Minions: The Rise of Gru
Last week, my wife and I decided to go super old-school and take our kids to a drive-in movie theatre. We bought boxes of candy, packed a jug of water, made some popcorn and loaded the back of the truck with lawn chairs and pillows. With four kids under six, Minions: The Rise of Gru was the obvious choice for us on this particular summer evening.
The movie is full of the zany adventures of those babbling yellow creatures known as the “minions.” And while most of the movie focuses on their villainous young leader, Gru, the minions did serve as an important foil to their overly ambitious chief. But it’s another villain, a karate-kicking Wild Knuckles, who had the distinction of giving the movie’s theme tagline when he said, “Find your tribe and never ever let them go.”
To be fair, the minions may have said the line a thousand times before Wild Knuckles, but, despite my best efforts, I don’t speak minion. I definitely heard a few words that I learned in high school Spanish, but most of what the minions say is understood only by other villains. But whether they said the line or not, the minions understood its truth. They spend the movie living out that truth, even when no one else did, including their tribe’s chief.
Though the line was stated inartfully blunt, it did prove poignant and has run around my head through the last week. It just so happened that I called up several old friends at the same time, perhaps subconsciously inspired. And more specifically it has inspired me to ask, “How do I hold onto my tribe?”
There are certainly many elements to accomplishing such a thing. Some level of communication is necessary. You certainly could not call someone a member of your tribe if you never see them, talk with them or listen to what they have to say. Technology provides a host of options here, but, personally, I have found that nothing quite beats physical presence. Zoom calls, emails and DMs can lessen the burden of distance but cannot entirely eliminate it.
You also need some kind of shared mission or identity. These two are often intertwined, though not always. In the movie, Gru and his minions identify themselves as mischievous villains and through that identity participate together in various villainous adventures. But more generally, people may identify themselves through shared hobbies, interests and career goals, even fashion has a way of grouping people together.
But these things are all temporary, prone to changing, or don’t really go to the heart of things. I used to be big into photography, but I have barely picked a camera up in eight years. Hobbies are convenient conversation starters but are too fleeting to be the foundation for true community. As a teenanger, I was a skater kid who grew out my hair, wore Vans shoes and sported super baggy JNCO jeans. But that, too, was just a phase. True community can’t be built or maintained with these things, because these things don’t last. Though my gang of skater friends would have been surprised at the truth of this.
Shockingly those silly-talking yellow creatures known as the minions tell us what lasting community is built on. They spent the entire movie risking their all for a young boy who abandoned them. In a few words, they sacrificed. They gave without expectation of return. They offered without requiring payment. In doing so, they built a lasting relationship with Gru. When Gru finally realized nobody was there for him like they were there for him, he knew they were his tribe. Sacrifice is the only foundation that lasts.
And that makes me think of another lasting community, a tribe that has endured for millennia, through trials of every kind and difficulties of the highest degree. Two thousand years ago a man named Jesus passed around a piece of bread and said, “This is my body broken for you,” and then he gave up his earthly body to save his friends. He passed around a cup and said, “This is my blood spilled out for you,” and then he let his blood flow to rescue these same loved ones and anyone else who would follow. Every follower of Jesus since that day has regularly commemorated this great act of sacrifice as being the one and only thing that still binds us together both now and forever, across space and time.
Many things might initiate a friendship, acquaintance or a gathering of people. But for a true and lasting community, that thing we call a tribe, only sacrifice can bind people together forever. Perhaps that is why Jesus reminded us before he left this earth to “love one another as I have loved you.” He was finding his tribe and making sure they never let go.
While I Am Second is often best known for our short films featuring real people changed by Jesus, we do another thing: we build community. Or in the words of Wild Knuckles, we help people like you “find their tribe and never let them go.” In that sense, you are not just here to watch films and read articles like this. You are here to connect with others. It is why we have things like the Forum that allows you to ask and answer questions, share your story, and get to know fellow Seconds. It is why we provide all I Am Second Community members with free small group discussion guides and access to free Live Second coaches. These resources are here to help you realize that the I Am Second Community can be your tribe. Here you belong. Here you matter.