K-Pop Demon Hunters & What Love Sounds Like

This devotional/essay is less of one targeted concept, and more of me writing 8 pages of notes while watching this movie and chewing on it for an extended period of time.  

The world of K-Pop Demon Hunters is introduced to us as a world where demons have always haunted, lead by their Demon King Gwi-Ma. Much like the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, each generation has protectors born into it. These warriors are called hunters, and not only do they battle with combat but also with their voices. Three women per generation have the ability to unite and strengthen others with their songs, and ultimately create a barrier called the “Honmoon,” which holds evil at bay.

It’s in the Song 

As their gifts and abilities are described; “Born with voices that can drive back the darkness,” “Singing songs of courage and hope,” and “Our music ignites the soul and brings people together.” 

Their voices and songs throughout the generations have the ability to focus and refresh as well as combat the darkness. As believers, our songs and words also carry great power to strengthen and encourage. I would genuinely be grateful for a visible confirmation that we’re doing a good job like the Huntrix team does, but we’ll just have to trust God with how He moves through it. 

“Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” - Ephesians 5:19. 

God fully expresses the power of strengthening each other through what we sing and hear. Genuinely what we hear impacts our hearts, and what we express impacts the hearts of others. Which is why we must be intentional and proactive with our expressions.  

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” - Hebrews 10:24 

We need all the outward encouragement we can get, because oftentimes, our biggest attacks come internally. We get so bound and entangled with our own fear, shame, and insecurities that any outward attacks are just that much more amplified.  

Identity of Isolation 

Early on in the story it’s revealed that Rumi, one of this generation of hunters, is half demon. Her father was a demon, and so she bares the “patterns” of a demon. These markings are indications of demons, but initially Rumi’s are small enough to conceal. She is instructed to hide them until they can reach the “Golden Honmoon” and permanently seal away Gwi-Ma and the demons for their lifetime. Effectively she is told, “pretend your issues aren’t real until we can get rid of them.” 

At one point Rumi considers telling the other two hunters about her patterns; 

Rumi: “Maybe they’ll understand.” 

Celine: “No Rumi, nothing can change until your patterns are gone.” 

The girls are continually having this concept drilled into them; “Your faults and fears must never be seen.” 

This becomes part of all of their realities, but especially for Rumi, as we see these lyrics resonate; 

“I live two lives, tried to play both sides, but I couldn’t find my own place.”  

“Waited so long to break these walls down. To wake up and feel like me. Put these patterns all in the past now and finally live like they girl they all see. No more hiding, I’ll be shining, like I'm born to be.” 

Whenever we live divided, it’s hard for any part of us to be truly whole. At bigger comic cons I do a discussion panel on how our lives and faith intersect, and this is always one of the first points. People will hide portions of themselves they think others can’t accept. Or they will create pocket personalities where they present acceptable versions of themselves for certain circumstances. This leaves you feeling isolated and alone because even the people that see you most don’t get to see the full you. If you don’t think people see the full you, it makes it harder to accept their love, encouragement, and to genuinely believe the good they see in you. 

As Jesus stated in Mark; 

“If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” - Mark 3:25.  

Rumi faced the pressure of fighting outside evil while struggling with her own internal anxieties. While many of us may not have the physical patterns, or have literal demon lineage, we face similar struggles just existing in this world. It may be sins we wrestle with, fears we are unprepared to express, anxieties we can’t put words to, or pressure to live up to other people’s standards of who we are. Those kinds of pressures festering inside of us make us incredibly vulnerable. 

Like Rumi, we get in this mindset that we have to fix ourselves before we are vulnerable. That we can only talk about our issues after they are dealt with, if we ever talk about them at all. Some of us feel that way from our own internal struggle, some of us feel that way because it was taught and instilled into us by someone else. Sometimes those people have good intentions and bad executions. Sometimes those people are malicious. Sometimes those people are just ignorant, but either way it can be incredibly damaging to be taught to live less than genuine because we won’t be loved otherwise. We’ll revisit this theme a little bit more but let me stop and tell you now; God has never needed you to fix yourself in order to be loved. 

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8. 

He saw us at our worst and loved us with His best.  

When Huntrix goes to visit “Healer Han” he makes the solid expression and observation that; “To treat the part, we must understand the whole. Focus is good but focusing on one part leads to ignoring other parts, making you separated, isolated.” 

When we only focus on the parts we are doing well in, or only focus on our struggles and weaknesses, then we are more likely to not have a clear vision of who and how we are. More often than not, our tendency is to see ourselves as the worst elements of who we are, leaving us as Han stated “separated, isolated.” 

In Rumi’s conversations with Jinu, he indicates that this is their way of life as a demon. “That’s all demons do. Feel. Feel our shame; our misery. It’s how Gwi-Ma controls us.”  

Malicious Manipulation 

Jinu states something that Christians have known well for a couple thousand years; fear and shame are tools of our enemy. 

Zechariah 3:1 and Revelation 12:10 describe Satan as an accuser. Someone who preys on the weakness of our hearts and sows doubt. It’s a real and dangerous thing having your heart constantly attacked. Even when Jesus faced Satan, we know Satan tempted Jesus, but even before the temptation he was accusing and trying to sow doubt. The first statement Satan makes to Jesus in Matthew 4:3 is; “If you are the son of God,” before he tried to tempt Him with bread, he attacked His identity. That’s just how our enemy works.  

Love/Hate Relationship 

Jinu continues his discussion of shame with Rumi on the subject of the patterns.

“These are a constant reminder of my shame. A shame I can never escape. Yours are a reminder too of a shame of your own.”  

Later the same subject escalates between them; 

Jinu: “You can’t even talk about your patterns.”

Rumi: “You want me to talk about my patterns? I hate them! Just like hate all demons! How I hate Gwi-Ma!” 

Jinu: “If hate could defeat Gwi-Ma, I would’ve done it a long time ago.” 

Hate is a tricky thing. It often does more damage than good in any circumstance. When we hate parts of ourselves, we often hate all of ourselves. When we hate actions of others, we can often hate people or people groups as a whole and end up losing more of our own humanity in the process.  

I want to share 2 scriptures on this.  

 “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” - Romans 12:9 

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” - Romans 12:21 

We are instructed to hate what is evil, but not who is evil. The phrase that comes before this is “Love must be sincere.” Your love can’t be sincere and hate someone at the same time. This is important when it comes to others, but it’s also essential when it comes to ourselves. Because if your love isn’t sincere and you go dabbling in hatred, you could end up hating yourself and further escalate all these issues. Oftentimes, hatred of others is actually hatred of ourselves pouring onto others as a means of projection.  

Jesus makes this statement on what’s considered the 2 greatest commandments. 

“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:37-40 

There’s 2 things to note here; first, loving others is essential to loving God. Secondly, our ability to love others is anchored in ability to love ourselves. If we can’t love ourselves well, we won’t love others well. If we let our fears, sins, and insecurities cause division in how we see and love ourselves, it will affect the rest of our relationships. 

Back to Romans 12:21. Paul states that we overcome evil with good. Just like Juni stated, hatred isn’t an effective weapon, but love and goodness absolutely is. They require more patience and empathy, but they leave everyone involved more whole.  

For the Huntrix girls it was a little more understandable to have the aggression that they did toward their enemies, being they were literal demons, but when our love isn’t sincere, we can get our hearts twisted with our expression towards others.  

This is why the Huntrix girls began drifting off course when “Takedown” was their plan of action. As stated near the beginning of this essay and the movie, their songs were powerful because they were “Singing songs of courage and hope,” and creating music that “ignites the soul and brings people together.” When they became so focused on using the methods of their enemy, they began to lose sight of what made them effective in the first place.  

When we as believers look more like pharisees and less like Jesus, we aren’t going to be representing God or his love well at all. 

Rumi began to have more empathy in these matters as she questioned the direction of the song lyrics in “Takedown.” 

Rumi: “When your patters start to show I see a pain that lies below.” 

But just because we have empathy doesn’t mean it will be the standard for everyone else. We are literally living in a time period where empathy is being treated as a weakness.  

Mira: “I can’t wait until every one of them is destroyed and sent back to suffer with Gwi-Ma for eternity. Right Rumi?” 

Rumi: “Yeah. Eternal suffering. Sounds fun.”  

Most of our conflict is going to be with actual people. Actual people who are struggling through life. Just because we find ourselves in opposition with others doesn’t mean we should want them to suffer any more than they already do. Even at their worst, we should root for their redemption and reconciliation, because that is the literal heart of God.  

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2: 3-4  

God is rooting for all of us. He’s not rejoicing in anyone’s struggle or downfall.  

Hope is the Anthem 

As Rumi and Juni continue their conversations, Rumi has more hope for things to work out than Jinu, understandably. But that doesn’t mean her hope comes easy. She still sees herself as only her weakest points.  

Rumi: “I am a mistake. Have been since the moment I was born. So, I have to believe. Because if there’s no hope for you, what hope is there for me?”  

Jinu saw himself as far beyond redemption and simply hoped for an end to suffering, Rumi longed for more and hoped desperately to find it. That can be such a difficult place to be, where you see others as more or less deserving of grace than you see yourself. That’s why I'm grateful that God sees us with the eyes that He does. 

Romans 3:23 is often the verse people use to point out that we are all sinners, but the beautiful thing is that Romans 3:23 is half of a statement. Romans 3:24 shows us that there is just as much hope as there is conflict. That we are all beautifully in the same position.  

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” - Romans 3:23-24. 

There is reason for hope, but as Rumi stated; “That’s the funny thing about hope. Nobody else gets to decide if you feel it. That choice belongs to you.” 

Speaking Life 

As the story plays out it illustrates so clearly the effects of secrecy and isolation in contrast to vulnerability and communication. 

As Rumi shared less and less with Mira and Zoey, their relationship grew strained.  

Mira: “What aren’t you telling us Rumi? What are you hiding from us?” 

But as she began to open up more and more to Juni, she found herself healing and growing.  

Rumi: “The more I talk to you, I don’t understand it, but somehow, my voice has healed.” 

It’s a strong reality in scripture that community and communication helps bring us closer together not just relationally, but also spiritually.  

“And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” - James 5:15-16 

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”- Galatians 6:2 

The closer we bring ourselves together, the stronger we are. The more isolation we embrace, the more vulnerable we find ourselves. But I fully recognize this is no easy feat. I have struggles and fears that I would cower to share with others. And even though she was drawing closer to Juni, Rumi found herself lost in these things.  

The line that hit me hardest from the entire movie is simply this; “We can’t fix it if we never face it.” This is the core of where all these patterns lead us.  

Rumi: “Between imposter and this monster, I’ve been lost inside my head. Ain’t no choice when all these voices keep me pointing towards no end.” 

Even Juni was caught in this cycle as Gwi-Ma mocked him; 

Gwi-Ma: “If you really believer her, if you really thought you could escape what you are, what you did, you would have told her the truth.” 

It’s so terrifying to open up about scary things because there’s this fear deep within us, that if people see our worst, they’ll either stop loving us or just leave. I still struggle with this to this day, and honestly some of my fears have been valid. That doesn’t mean we let ourselves live in this place. I’ve learned that what we hide, holds us back.  

Which is why when Juni is left to himself and his negative influences lives in the place where this is his mindset; 

Juni: “All we get to do is live with our pain, our misery. That’s all we deserve.” 

Unconditional Conditions 

When things reached a screeching halt, Huntrix was seemingly disbanded, and Rumi was left alone. She returned to Celine, the woman who had taught her for years to hide herself. Rumi was facing the consequences of years of hiding and isolation as her world crumbled around her.  

Celine: “I did my best to accept you and help you.” 

Rumi: “Accept me? You told me to cover up, to hide.” 

Celine: “Yes, until we can fix everything....” 

Rumi: “No more hiding. No more lies. Don’t you get it? This is what I am. Look at me. Why can’t you look at me? Why couldn’t you love me? All of Me!” 

In the midst of this confrontation, Celine wants to “fix things” to sweep everything under the rug and put the show back on. I know confrontations are painful. I know that being vulnerable or exposed can hurt, but it’s better than pretending things are “okay” where they are. 

Celine: “This is why we have to hide it. Our faults and fears must never be seen.” 

Rumi: “If this is the Honmoon I'm supposed to protect, I’m glad to see it destroyed.” 

I understand seeing brokenness in people. It’s even ok to see broken portions of yourself. But if you see yourself or others as just the broken pieces that’s not healthy. If our love is conditional, it’s the wrong love and can end up causing more damage. In many of Jesus’ interactions with the Pharisees and teachers of the law, the religious culture and climate they were creating and enforcing was similar to the world Celine was creating for Rumi. 

Jesus spends a large chunk of Matthew 23 exposing the lies everyone had become so comfortable with. 

“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.” - Matthew 23:1-7 

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” - Matthew 23:23-28 

The Pharisees and teachers of the law effectively had created a Honmoon that needed to be destroyed, and that’s why they feared and fought against Jesus. He was going to face and fix what was broken.  

The answer is to give more love, not less. It’s to give love so much that we see the love not the brokenness. Celine had lived her life as a Hunter previously. She knew the struggles and pressures, but then inflicted incredible damage on these girls, especially Rumi with her conditional love and identity.  

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”  - 1 Peter 4:8 

Peter makes this clear, “Above all, love each other deeply.” Can you do something while loving someone deeply? Then go for it. If you can’t love someone deeply while doing it, don’t. You can’t love someone deeply while telling them to hide their fears and faults. You can’t love someone deeply while telling them to live in isolation. You can’t love someone deeply while ignoring their pain. I’m not here to paint Celine as a bigger villain than Gwi-Ma.....well...not the point. Celine was a flawed person, just like we all are. But we need to make sure we are doing good and not doing damage with the love we express.  

Cheap Substitutes 

If we don’t express our love well, people end up not only in isolation but also putting themselves in dangerous situations. When you think you aren’t worthy of love, when you think you are broken, when you think you are someone that needs to hide, you find yourself incredibly vulnerable. That’s where the Saja boys and Gwi-Ma came in with “Idol.”  

“Keep you in check. Keeping you obsessed. Any time it hurts, play another verse. I can be your sanctuary.... Know I'm the only one right now. I will love you more when it all burns down. More than power, more than gold, you gave me your heart, now I'm here for your soul. I’m the only one who’ll love your sins.... Living in your mind now, too late cause you’re mine now.” 

Sin, and the emotional byproducts of it, create a mindset that you’re too broken to be wholly loved. That you don’t deserve good things. That you are so flawed that you must settle for less than what’s actually good for you. It makes you think that because you are broken, you can only have what’s equally broken. There are so many people right now who have settled for parts of life that aren’t what they need or yearn for, because it’s easier to believe they deserve bad things than that they deserve the best.  

In the story Gwi-Ma spoke to everyone’s insecurities and fears. He manipulated those things into being what drove people towards their destruction. But Rumi stepped forward to stop it. 

Broken Glass 

Gwi-Ma: “You think you can fix the world? You can’t even fix yourself” 

Rumi: “I can’t” 

Gwi-Ma: “And now every finally sees you for what you really are.” 

Rumi: “They do.” 

Rumi stood before the entire group all her faults, fears, and failures exposed. This was the most free she had ever been. It was because she was free from hiding that she was able to help others. Please hear my heart. There is no hidden part of you that is going to make God love you less. When we stop hiding, we are more free to be loved, and to help love others. People can be difficult sometimes, and may take extra time for them to come around.  As scary as it is, there is freedom and strength in times like this. You can be loved for who you truly are, not just who people want you to be.  

“Nothing but the truth now. Nothing but the proof of what I am. The worst of what I came from, patterns I'm ashamed of. Things that even I don't understand. I tried to fix it, I tried to fight it. My head was twisted, my heart divided. My lies all collided. I don't know why I didn't trust you to be on my side. I broke into a million pieces, and I can't go back. But now I'm seeing all the beauty in the broken glass. The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony. My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like.” 

The song goes on, and it’s so powerful. It left me weeping like 3 lines into the first time I heard it. It’s the truth. We’re not meant to hide, and there’s healing when we don’t.  

My friend Todd Turner runs a ministry called “Mosaic Fan Art” where he makes these gorgeous, enormous, stained-glass pieces. He spends hours and hours taking pieces of broken glass and mending them into beautiful art. The art can’t be shaped until something is broken. The one phrase he told me that has always stuck with me is “The glass is forgiving.” Initially for me that didn’t make sense. Glass is one of the least forgiving materials, but in Todd’s hands, brokenness doesn’t mean it’s not beautiful or useful. Brokenness doesn’t negate its value. Todd is an amazing artist, but let me tell you, God is so much better. He sees all the “beauty in the broken glass.” He loves you right where you are and wants you to be free from hiding and to come home.  

This is what happens when we experience grace and acceptance, not for the image we maintain, but for the truth of all we truly are.  

This is me “Shouting in the quiet, "You're not alone"” 

In the end, the Honmoon was so much stronger when it was built off of relationships and connections that were free of fear and hiding. In our lives we’ll find everything else will be stronger when they are built the same way. Our relationships with friends, family, God, even ourselves will be stronger and more beautiful when we can approach them with transparency and without fear.  

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” - 1 John 4:16-18 

I know this isn’t easy and won’t be something that happens in the span of a musical, but I pray it’s something you can find true and freeing in your life.