What Jojo Rabbit Taught Me About Serving

• SA Engages

May 4, 2020

Back in February (which was only three months ago if you can believe it) Jojo Rabbit won the Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay, upsetting a few other critically acclaimed films in the process. It was an impressive feat for a film that was polarizing to critics due to its nature of tiptoeing the line between comedy and tragedy.

Throughout the film, viewers watch the events of WWII unfolding through the eyes of 10-year old Jojo Beltzer. As a result of that, some moments don’t pack as heavy of an emotional punch as they could in a film that isn’t being told by a boy with an imaginary Adolf Hitler as his best friend. Vox film critic Alissa Wilkinson puts it this way, “Sometimes the humor risks overshadowing what the movie is really about, probably because Jojo’s exposure to the horrors of the Third Reich is limited both by his age and his ability to grasp what’s happening around him, and the movie sticks to his perspective, which at times can feel a bit tonally weird, atrocities seeming lighter than they are.”

Despite this, the scene that stuck with me the most since watching the film is one of the heavier moments in the story. Jojo and his mother, Rosie Beltzer, come across five people who had been executed in the town square. They had anti-Nazi papers stapled to their bodies and it is assumed they had been killed for hiding or aiding Jewish people trying to avoid capture. Jojo asks his mother what they did, and she responds with, “what they could”.

That “what they could” quote has played over in my head hundreds of times. That moment in the film showed me the simplicity in service; something I’ve never thought of before. Service is, simply put, doing what you can to help somebody. Don’t get me wrong, there plenty of serving opportunities that are complicated, but the core purpose of serving is pretty simple. In the example above, people did what they could and risked their lives in service to others. This is a pretty extreme form of selfless service that a lot of people will never be able to do, but applying that same “do what you can” mentality to service in general could have a huge impact on people’s lives and communities they serve.

For some, as far as serving is concerned, it is easy to get into the mindset of things you can’t do. Thoughts like, “that takes a special type of person do to and I am not that type of person” run through your head. Eventually, you can get to the point where you aren’t making as big of an impact as you can through service, because you are focusing so much on those things you can’t do.

It is crucial to remember that any act of service, no matter how big or small it may seem, does make a difference, whether it is immediately noticeable or not, and ultimately brings glory to God. It is crucial that we are making sure we are doing what we can to serve, because we are called to a life of service that reflects Jesus. In Mark 10:43-45, Jesus says, “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Don’t be discouraged by thinking of ways you can’t serve. A lot of things in life are out of your control. Focus on other ways you can serve to make a difference in people’s lives while showing God’s love. It can be as simple as going to the grocery store for an elderly neighbor or feeding the poor at your local food bank. Just do what you can.

Sources

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/9/9/20856783/jojo-rabbit-review-hitler-taika-waititi

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