It's a Bird...It's a Plane.....

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.--Ephesians 2:8-10

Every kid wants to be a superhero. If you work with kids, like me, it's a topic that comes up quite a bit...especially during times when the students are supposed to be talking about letters and numbers, not movies and comic books.

So I am reminded often of my favorite superhero, Spider-Man. I've wondered before why he is my favorite, but I think it's because Peter Parker is so relatable. He's just a dumb kid from a poor area of town with no social skills and no future (at least in the Tobey Maguire movie version--I am uneducated about the comic books or the more recent films). He's smart, but a lot of good it's doing him...he struggles even to make conversation. He even has a selfish, scared, revengeful heart that causes him to let a burglar get away...and he loses his Uncle Ben because of his own mistake. 

Peter Parker is a loser with a capital L. I mean, really: this kid's got NOTHING. 

Nothing except a radioactive spider bite that changes his life.

I think that when Marvel published the comic books about Spider-Man, they didn't realize that, in some unorthodox way, they were telling the Christian story.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:22-30).

That's a hefty chunk of scripture, but what it's saying is that God is so wise that even his "foolishness" (something that looks foolish to the world--the entire message of grace and redemption through Jesus) is way wiser than what we can come up with. 

If you feel today that you are an idiot, unaccomplished, lowly, exhausted, worthless, unable to do anything for God: great!! I mean, we'll work on your self-esteem...but when you're at a place of surrender like that, knowing that what God has commissioned us to do is way harder than you could ever accomplish, you're at a wonderful place, because that's just where God can use you. 

I mean, think about it: Jesus didn't say "Go out and make converts, beating people in the head with a Bible and telling them to get saved or go to hell." That's actually pretty easy.All you'd have to do is go into the streets, knock a few people around, and go home and eat a hamburger and watch TV, feeling good about yourself for what you've "done for God." 

But what Jesus actually said was, "Go out into the world and make disciples" (Matthew 28:16-20). That means having real relationship with people--even people we in our Pharisee mindsets find dirty. It means listening to them, holding them, teaching them, cleaning their wounds, praying for them, and authentically caring about them, sharing our hearts with them as He does and loving them even if they reject and kill you. That's hard stuff. If you think you can accomplish that without the Holy Spirit, you have a rude awakening coming. And, not to be a jerk, but if you think you can do that in your own strength, chances are you're not actually doing it. You've probably skipped straight to the eating a hamburger and feeling smug about yourself part. 

It's the truth. And I'm preaching to myself more than anyone.

But thanks be to God, because He humbles us enough to get us out of our own way and lead us to the fulfilling life of ministry He designed from the first.

Think about Batman. He had some SERIOUS childhood issues. He needed therapy. But instead, he adopted a savior complex, built a cool car, hired a genius butler, and tried to redeem his own issues. Sure, he was smart, could learn any number of languages, probably had 25 graduate degrees, and could probably beat even Karate Kid to a pulp. But all of that didn't heal his pain. It did nothing to redeem him. At the end of the day, Batman is just a guy wearing a weird black mask and missing what was stolen from him in his childhood.

Meanwhile, Peter Parker is daydreaming about really cool Batman-esque cars when he accidentally shoots some web out of his wrist and exclaims, "Hey, I didn't know I could do that!" 

We are all inept in our human strength, no matter how great and awesome and talented and mysteriously charming we are. The cross brings us to this life-altering revelation. But that's not all. Jesus didn't just die: He was raised from the dead. And the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead lives in YOU, Spirit-filled believer (Romans 8:11). When you start walking in that revelation, you discover powers you didn't know you had...and, haphazardly, probably clumsily, but definitely with eternal effects, you start living the Great Commission.

Like Batman, I was a scholar, an intellectual, someone who often didn't stop to listen to the Holy Spirit because, obviously, I already knew exactly what to do. God had to show me more and more that being a snotty little hipster was basically as weird as dressing up in a black skin-tight outfit and trying to save the world by myself. I'm not getting down on myself here; God gave me tremendous talents and skills. I am very blessed. But it tends to be the talented of us who put the most pressure on ourselves. It tends to be the over-achievers who invest most of our identity in what we can do. I want you to experience this relief today: it's not about you. It's all about Jesus.

While my own talents can accomplish a lot in the world, and even make a few people's lives better, they can't bring them the deep, personal, intimate healing, joy, and love that God wants to give everyone. Without Him, I can't bring freedom to a lost and dying world. I'm just a person with a savior complex who needs therapy.

When I look at myself from an eternal, cosmic perspective, I look a lot like Peter Parker: I got nothing...just a lot of pride and maybe some photography skills. I'm really glad the saving of the world doesn't depend on me, because, frankly, the world would have no hope. Instead, we have an eternal hope: Jesus Christ...who, by the way, already saved the world and probably looked way better (and less creepy) than Batman doing it.

Jesus said, "Turn and become like children." Children want to be superheros. They dream of great things, and they know they can't get there by themselves. Like them, we need a radioactive spider bite from Holy Spirit. And what a beautiful, tremendous relief it is to discover that, in the consistency and perfection of God, NOTHING depends on your skill, wisdom, intellect, beauty, or ability to build really cool cars. It all depends on Him, so just go for what He's telling you to do. Even if you're imperfect, He's still going to make it happen, because He is perfect.

I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted (Job 42:2).

It's the great joke of the gospel: God is so awesome that He can make even a talking donkey (Numbers 22) or rocks accomplish His purposes (Luke 19:40). His foolishness is wiser than men.

But He doesn't use rocks. He can do what He wants in spite of us, but He desires to do it with us. That's the gospel.

If you're talented, great. But don't put so much pressure on yourself to achieve, because that only leads to paralyzing fear, anxiety, and failure. Only when you realize it's not up to you will you start walking in the boldness He's called you to--and you will really change the world.

I don't normally read the Message, since it's such a paraphrase translation, but I like how it gives life to Matthew 11:28-30. So that's the thought I want to leave with you, the sweet, relieving invitation of Jesus:

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

For an over-achiever like me, this is good news. Happy web-slinging, folks.