Fighting Dreamer

Monkey D. Luffy.

The man who would become the Pirate King.

Star of the manga & anime series One Piece, Luffy and his crew sails the legendary ocean Grand Line to find the ultimate treasure and to become the strongest pirate in the world, the Pirate King.


Though many pirates generally love to cause chaos by plundering and looting, the author Eiichiro Oda brings up the point that a pirate is essentially just an outcast of society, misunderstood people who don't conform to the majority, seeking a life of fulfilment & adventure, chasing after a dream.

As Christians, don't we feel like outcasts sometimes?

We are in this world but we are not of this world. We seek to not live according to the ways of the world, and that often puts us at odds with the majority, e.g. Most of the young people in the world think that pre-marital sex is perfectly fine as long as both parties consent and "love" each other. What does our faith say about pre-marital sex?

Once some people find out that we are Christians, they view us through their own lens of what Christianity is about... And they question us, make fun of our beliefs, challenge our faith or keep their distance from us.
Yup, a regular day in the life of a pirate =)


Then there's also the element of treasure...

Pirates spend their lives hunting for and storing up treasure. But treasure is not always defined as gold or diamonds.
Luffy's treasure is a strawhat he keeps with him at all times, entrusted by a pirate he greatly admires and seeks to surpass, and the embodiment of his dream to become the Pirate King. For that dream is Luffy's real treasure, his reason to keep on going no matter how tough the obstacles and how deadly the opponents he had to face.

Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Therefore, store up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in to steal."
So what is your treasure? Is it passing things like wealth, fame, beauty or career? Or is it seeking to bring pleasure to the heart of God?

When we were born, God put in each of us a vision... A purpose He wants to fulfill in our lives.
That becomes a dream so huge, we think we are crazy for even daring to think of it. That is the God-given dream, a vision that shall come to pass as long as we put our trust in the Lord and keep on working towards it no matter what obstacles stand in our way.

What is the dream that God has put in your heart?


Another theme in One Piece is the idea that your friends are your treasure.
Luffy's crew each sail with him to pursue their own dreams, and their personalities are so extreme that they bicker and clash a lot, but when trouble comes knocking they risk life and limb for each other. They stand by each other no matter how impossible the odds may seem.





Same goes for our Christian community. The Lord wants us to love Him by loving each other.
Sure we may offend each other from time to time, sometimes not by intention but simply because we are created differently. Do we stand by each other when the going gets tough?
Ha ha.. Yup, we are the crew of Captain Jesus... and we raise His Name high as our bannner!


Luffy is a fighting dreamer... He's so convicted of his purpose that he fights to see it become reality.


I wanna be a fighting dreamer too, believing that I will see my God-given dream come to pass.

But I do not want to become any kind of King.

I have a King, and He is the King of Kings!


"In the presence of a thousand kings, You are my one desire..."

-- from the song "Be Glorified" by Chris Tomlin