Super Man

Disclaimer: The following views are not trying to speak for or interpret the intent of Superman’s original creators. They are just a strange guy’s attempt to wrap his head around something unfathomable.

Alright, with that out of the way, let’s talk about Superman. First, we’ll list some facts about him:

-- He’s so super that “superhero” doesn’t fully describe his domination. He should have a word all to himself.

-- He really doesn’t need anyone’s help.

-- He would dominate Chuck Norris (debatable, I know, but let’s be honest here…roundhouse kick vs. a flying man of steel? There’s no question)

-- He can pretty much do anything and help anyone in any situation as long as there is no kryptonite

I think you get the point. Superman rocks. Period. But why does Superman rock? Why is there something more special about him than the “more vulnerable” superheroes like Batman and The Flash and Captain America? It can be refreshing to have a superhero that’s more like us, but someone as ridiculously awesome as Superman lights up something inside of us that the other guys just can’t match. What makes someone as powerful as Superman so lovable?

Our original thought is to say, “We all love Superman because he is so powerful. After all, he can fly, repel bullets, shoot laser beams out of his eyes, fly back in time, etc, etc”. All of these things are true, but they stop short of the true reason we love him. If Superman used all of his power for destruction and forced us all to submit to him, we would hate him. If he flaunted his power around without harming anybody we still wouldn’t like him. So there’s more than his power alone that’s lovable. What is it?

Let’s describe a typical interaction between Superman and the people of Metropolis (we’ll pretend we’re Metropolites (Metropolans? I give up):

Superman has all this power.
We don’t.
We get in trouble.
Superman helps us.
We are out of trouble and happy.
We praise Superman.

Superman doesn’t need us. He doesn’t need to help us. He doesn’t even need to be on earth. In spite of these things, he still helps us poor Metropolites. Even though he has more power than we can imagine, he chooses to serve us. Instead of ruling over us, he puts our needs before his own.

To bring this further, take a look at the last line of that description. When Superman humbles himself for our sake, we don’t ridicule him. We praise him! He becomes the superest (if you’ve read any previous posts, you’ll realize that made-up words are encouraged) of all superheroes. In other words, we love Superman so much because in all his glory and splendor, he chooses to serve us.

Now comes the “ughh, here comes the Christianity stuff that I’m going to read just because I’ve read a few pages of text already and I’m obligated to finish” part.

Imagine a Superman that has no weakness with kryptonite. Imagine a Superman that can do all things at all places at all times with nothing holding Him back. If your head is not hurting, you haven’t imagined enough. Once your head starts hurting, then you’re beginning to imagine what an ounce of God is like.

So, like Superman (only better), God can do whatever He wants to anyone He wants wherever He wants whenever He wants with nobody’s help. Now imagine if this God came to earth as a man. This man is Jesus Christ. The real Super Man.

God didn’t come to earth for a vacation. He came for a reason. He came to deal with once and for all the rebellious, ungrateful, and self-centered human race. We have rejected Him since Adam and Eve, so how should He have dealt with us? Unfortunately, we deserved to be wiped out!

But we all know the Christmas story. Jesus didn’t come riding to earth unleashing His wrath on humanity. He came in a stable. As a baby. Later, He could have rocked us all with His incomprehensible power. Instead, He served the people around Him. He healed the sick, raised the dead, allowed the blind to see, fed the hungry, and made the deaf hear. Then He performed the Most Glorious Act in history: He died for us, then rose from the dead! This same Jesus that could do whatever He wanted instead put our needs above His own. He paved the road back to life with our Maker.

So let’s look at this in a similar way we looked at Superman:

God has all this power.
We spit in His face.
We get in deep trouble.
Jesus saves us.
We are free! We have life as it was meant to be!
what’s the last line?

Check out the following passage:

“[Jesus], being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”

Phillipians 2:6-11

That first line is a little confusing. In other words: Jesus, with the power of God at His disposal, could have used that for His advantage. But He chose not to. Instead (like Superman), he served us. He humbled Himself for our sake. So what is the result of that? (Note: the bolded therefore is a hint)

Jesus becomes Great! Greater than all things! Superman became the best superhero because he served us in a mighty way. In the same manner, Jesus became deserving of all praise because He (in all of His power, glory, splendor, might, and strength) laid down His life for us.

So now you ask, “where do I fit into all of this?”

Well, where do Metropolites fit into the story of Superman? When they need help, they call on Superman’s name. When he helps, they praise him! They trust him.

In the same manner, Jesus did infinitely more for us than Superman ever could. So we should treasure Him! We should call on His name in times of need! We should live lives so that every breath we take honors Him! We should stop trusting the promises of our world and our culture and live the lives that God made us to live. He will provide!

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

John 3:17

Missing Out

Let's play a game. You are about to see a few phrases. For each phrase, nod your head if you have heard it before. Shake your head if you haven't. Of course, since you're most likely reading this by yourself, you probably won't nod or shake your head. Oh well, let's move on to the game:

“You only live once!”

“Come do ______ with us. You don’t want to miss out!”

“Seize the day!”

“Live it up!”

“Make the most of every opportunity!”

After reading these quotes, you either: a) played the game and nodded your head five times, or most likely b) didn’t play the game and nodded your head zero times. In either case, 99.9% percent of you have heard all five of these phrases. Overused phrases and clichés like these litter our culture. Why?

For starters, they’re true! One of the few things we all agree on is that some day, we’re headed to a nice nap in the dirt. Or, to put it more bluntly: someday we’re all gonna be dead. After that it’s over. Done. Finito. We all only live once, so logically we should make the most of each day. We should take advantage of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. We should “live it up”! We could probably end this post right now and get something good out of it.

But ending it there would be really dangerous, so we won’t. Why dangerous? These phrases only give us half of the answer! They tell us that every day is precious, but they don’t tell us how to make them precious. They tell us to make the most of every opportunity, but they don’t tell us what a good opportunity is. They tell us to not miss out on X, but X may be worth missing for Y. Let’s clarify.

This may seem unrelated, but bear with me. Think of Christians you know. If we’re all honest here, a lot of times Christians can be really lame. They like to follow rules. They talk funny. They’ll spend time with their families instead of pushing their career farther. They go to Christianish events when they could be out partying. They try not to swear or ogle at attractive women or put down their friends. They look at things that could possibly give them pleasure or success or fun or thrills and say no. In other words, they seem to be going against the clichés that we discussed. Opportunities pass them by. Days are wasted. Christians are missing out.

Why would they choose such a lifestyle? Because they think they are better than everyone else? While it could be perceived that way, that isn’t the case. So what is the case? I forgot to mention another characteristic of the same lame Christians that we described. They don’t seem to miss the things they give up. While it looks like they are missing out, they go on as if they are happier. What is going on? To get some insight, let’s read the following parable from Jesus:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” Matthew 13:44

We’ll explain the parable in a second, but before that, imagine if we’ve completely misunderstood what it means to “live it up”. We think making the most of every opportunity means to jump at the first thrill we see and run with it, so we go out and get drunk or break a few laws or hook up with that guy or make fun of the ugly girl. What if we’ve got it completely backwards? What if trying not to miss out on life makes us really miss out on life? The parable explains this far better than I can.

First, we must know what the kingdom of heaven is. Put simply, it is God’s great, magnificent, and perfect plan. Involved in that plan is Jesus Christ. He is God on earth, put here to die for us so that we can re-enter community with the One True God. If we believe that He died for us and rose from the dead, we can enter the most Glorious Thing possible: everlasting life with our Creator. Life after our little dirt nap. Life as it was meant to be.

Jesus likened this eternal life to a treasure. Since He provided the way from death to life, He is the treasure. Now the man in the parable discovered this amazing fact. What did he do once he found the treasure? He sold everything he had to obtain it! What does this mean for us?

Christ is that treasure in the field. His value surpasses all things because He is the way to true life. Therefore, He is better than all the little thrills we can get by trying to “seize the day”. He is so Great that we should be willing to give up worldly pleasures to gain Him. “Living it up” now becomes living in Him. Making the most of every opportunity becomes making the most of His opportunity.

Yup, taking this to heart may involve becoming lame. But being lame is a good thing. In fact, it's not really lame at all. Once you follow Christ, you enter into a life where each day becomes what it was meant to be. You can finally see every opportunity as part of the most magnificent plan and purpose you could imagine. Sure, embracing Christ causes you to "miss out" on some things, but in the end you gain everything. Like the man in the parable, we could lose everything we have, but by losing those things we actually come out on top. So, I urge you to “seize Christ”. “Live in Him”. “Make the most of His opportunity”. After all, you only live once =D

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” Philippians 3:7-8