Heroes vs. Villains
Pt. 2 - Superman School
I. Introduction
He was the sole survivor of a nuclear chain reaction that produces a planet destroying blast. His father in an attempt to save his son places him a StarCraft and sends him to earth. On earth a couple by the name of Jonathan and Martha Kent found the infant inside the vessel and brought him to their farm in Smallville, Kansas. When Clark was eighteen, took him to the field where his StarCraft still lay hidden and explained how he and Martha had found him. Clark resolved to use his powers from then on only for the good of mankind. Clark and his foster parents devised a new costumed secret identity he would adopt when using his abilities in public. He is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He is _____________! Lois Lane, his coworker at the Daily Planet Newspaper gives him this new name.
I grew up watching Superman. He would fight daily battles against the likes of Lex Luthor, Brainiac, General Zod, Bizarro, and Doomsday. He did this all while trying to conceal his true identity from those around him.
I can still remember the thinly veiled disguise of the suit, side parted hair and black rimmed glasses that the best superman -Christopher Reeves - would wear around Lois Lane and I was always like come on you mean to tell me you can't see through that? Then when trouble would erupt around him Clark Kent would dash into a nearby phone booth and change into this muscle bound, spandex clad superhero with x-ray vision, enhanced hearing, super speed flying and superhuman strength. As I reflect on one of the all-time great superhero stories, I think there several aspects of Superman's life that are important for us to examine here.
You will remember that I read from Romans last week. Let's go there once again and see if Paul doesn't give us some insight on one of the requirements for us to become the hero, the superman that God intends for us to become. Welcome to Superman School!
Text: Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:3 & 6 (TLB)
As God’s messenger I give each of you God’s warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you.
God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well.
Then Paul lists some of those things like preaching, teaching, serving, giving, etc.
In this passage, Paul is literally detailing for us the Clark Kent to Superman transformation that should be taking place in each of us as followers of Christ. He takes us to Superman School and points out some truths that we must grasp in order for the Superman to come out in us.
A phone booth is necessary!
Paul makes it abundantly clear in Superman Academy Lesson One that transformation is required. It doesn't matter how nice or mild mannered you were before Christ; he is teaching us that the step required to become what God wants us to become is transformation. The determining factor is whether or not you will be a hero or a villain is determined by willingness to change. I remind you that Clark Kent became a hero when he was able to change. Clark Kent would steal away into a phone booth and become a man of steel! Too many of us want to act like Superman but never slip into the phone booth and experience the change necessary to be Superman. Perhaps you are struggling to be heroic because you haven't or are unwilling to spend time in the phone booth to allow the Holy Spirit to change you. Without change you remain Clark Kent at best and a villain at worst. Paul tells us that it is impossible to stay the same and be a hero! How many of us encounter Christ but refuse to allow him to change our mindset, our emotions, our desires and in our resistance to change we are never able to let the hero out! To become all that Christ wants and empowers us to become we must slip into the phone booth of His presence, His Word, His body. It is the hidden times in those three things that chip away at our Clark Kent. It those three things that work together to smooth out our rough edges, strengthen us and stir up and fine tune the giftings/power within us. That is why we gather to worship. That is why it is essential to break open the Bible. That is why it is necessary to have godly wise counsel in your life. It produces change! God never changes, but we must! Listen the best version of you without the honing done by the Holy Spirit will never produce a hero. You become a hero when you embrace the change that the Holy Spirit is trying to produce in you! Evaluate your own life, attitude, mind - are you changing, are you open to change, does the Holy Spirit have permission to transform any and all areas of your life? Are you more hero now than you were? You have got to find you a phone booth!
The second thing I want to point out is . . . Remember the moment in the field looking at the starship Clark comes to the decision that he will only use his power for the good of mankind? Think about it in that one moment Clark Kent positions himself to be a hero. If he had used his superpowers in a different manner the story wouldn't be the same! Come on guys some of you have wanted X-ray vision and it wasn't for the good of mankind. Some of you wanted to be superhumanly strong and it was to settle a score rather than rescue someone. If Clark Kent had decided that day to use his powers for self-serving purposes, then he would have instantly become a villain.
The difference between heroes and villains is how they use their power. The same truth is true for us. We too must make that choice.
Paul states very plainly that we have been given power. In fact, he warns us that one of our challenges will be the temptation to become proud, conceited or big headed about our abilities and powers. He says to be careful to evaluate or consider ourselves properly so that we will remain humble and use our powers correctly. So, our issue isn't the lack of power. The challenge we face is being empowered and then choosing to use the power in a correct manner.
Paul even lists some of the gifts/powers we may be given! For instance, he says, God gives some of us the gift of communication. But notice that with that gift comes a choice. You have to choose will you use the gift of gab to edify or destroy. Will your ability with words elevate or manipulate? Maybe the power God gives you is influence. You will be faced with the choice to use that influence to serve others or to be self-serving. He even says one of the powers that God gives some of us is financial blessings/giving. We will be faced with the choice to use the resources on our own desires on as directed by the Spirit. Hero or villain all comes down to how we use our power. So, then this comes down to how you will manage flesh. Our flesh isn’t saved, but our spirit is. Jesus gives our spirit life. We know that death resides in our body/flesh so, we must overpower it. Again, this is why Paul starts off Superman School by declaring that we must present ourselves as a living sacrifice. He knew that we are not given equal talent, equal influence, or even equal riches, but he also knew that the one area in which we would all be equal and identical is that we would all be given equal choices. The one area we are all equal in is choices! Regardless of which superpower you have been given by God you will face the choice to use that gift correctly!
I watch way too many gifted people act and behave more like villains because they skip the phone booth and then they use their gifts/power wrong. Listen gifted people will be used. Scripture says our gift will make room for us and bring us before great men. However, if you don't develop your character the only people that will use your gift are those that are willing to put up with your dysfunction because they so desperately need your gift. If you are gifted, and you are, work harder on your character than you do on your gift so that you will use your gift/power correctly! So, this is why it is essential to go back to point one and tell you that you need a phone booth! Superman School is just like regular school - if you don't learn the first lesson you flunk and have to go back and learn it again and then you graduate!
