It’s amazing to me how much God resonates within our lives and within our culture. Not that everything we do as humans is divinely inspired or guided, but rather that the mark of God can be seen in so very much around us. This has been the case as Rob Reavis and I have been considering the theme for this year’s junior high camp. We have seen God moving through various ways leading us to this years’ theme of Superheroes. Since I have been thinking a lot about superheroes, I invite you to consider this with me: we were created with the need for a hero.
Think about that for a moment. We need a hero. Even the most motivated people among us are looking for something more. Every person has a person or a couple of people who have inspired them to become more than what they were. All of us need someone to look up to and aspire to be like. In our most self-sufficient moments, we want to ‘do things my way’. This is because when we achieve much, we develop the notion that we have become the hero; we are the one to aspire to be like. If you have watched the Olympics for even one year, you know that there is always someone better. Constantly records are being set faster, higher, and longer.
It should come as no surprise to us then, when our heroes fail us. It is all too common now for our favorite basketball player to get suspended for fighting or our favorite baseball player to be arrested for substance abuse. These things should not surprise us, after all ‘to err is human’ right? So what happens when our heroes fail us? What happens to a generation that has lost its heroes? They make them up. They create fantastic people who can be admired and are perfect, or near perfect. We create people who are more than human; they are super-human. We know that Superman will never harm us because he is loyal, just, and kind. These superheroes have the fantastic qualities that we see lacking in those around us. They never fail; they have incredible strength and will power. They command our respect by their deeds and stature. However, to burst the bubble, they are fake. They are just made up! Batman will never come to my rescue; he does not even exist. In a time when we need our heroes more than ever before, it would seem they have all failed us.
Maybe that is because these superheroes are just a reflection of the true Superhero. It seems that our society has become ever more cynical and distrustful. There are so many scams out there and so much is just smoke and mirrors. We have a need for something real. We need connection and that hero to believe in, that model we can see and feel, right in front of us.
It almost seems as if the Bible was written for just a time as now! There is character after character that exemplifies our superhero qualities. Not only because they do miraculous things, but because they are real and searching for God’s will and His place for them. These are real people with the same desire each of us has; they are all looking for that hero. David comes to the battle lines and sees Goliath, but what is everyone else doing? They are looking for someone else to fight; they are looking for a big, flamboyant, hero! Jesus comes on the scene and people reject him, in part because they want a hero, someone to overthrow their oppressors. These people in the Bible are incredible heroes but they show up in unexpected ways. God’s style of hero is not the world’s style. God’s superheroes are not always the most flamboyant, the most obvious, the most handsome, etc.
Jesus is our ultimate Hero; setting examples that everyone can look up to. Jesus is the only hero that can save us when we need it the most. He will always come to our rescue. Jesus is the hero that Spiderman or Superman or any of the others could never be. He is the one we were created to look up to and to want to be like. Superheroes simply show our need for a true hero: Christ. Instead of trying to fly, start trying to love unconditionally. See what it is like to be super-human, be Christ-like!
Pastor Mike