The Joy of Glory

Discovering endless joy in the boundless glory of God…
June 19, 2013

Man of Steel?

*Don’t worry…there are not that many movie spoilers below.

“Space Jesus…” That was the nickname my friend gave the man of steel as soon as we exited the theater at 3am on June 14. Yes, I was crazy enough to go see the movie at midnight, but that is beside the point. A conversation ensued among the five of us about all the Christ imagery used in the film.

Superman has always been a very “Jesus-esque” character, but there were several moments this seemed to not only rise to the surface…but blatantly jump off the screen. Here are just a few examples of what I’m talking about:

  • Man-of-steel-Christ-poseKal-el (Clark Kent/Superman) was born in a unique way on Krypton. It wasn’t a virgin birth, but the parallel is still there.
  • He was sent by his father to earth as a savior to bring hope.
  • He grew up in obscurity.
  • There was a scene in a church where Clark was talking to a priest and the stained glass Jesus behind him was practically sitting on his shoulder.
  • At one critical point in outer-space, Kal-el was told by his real father (Jor-el) that he must save the world and he began his flight back to earth in a slow-motion-explicitly-cruciform-shape.

I could keep on going, but it is clear that the film makers want us to catch the association they are making between their superman and Jesus. And why not? This association has long existed in the minds of comic book fans…including myself…that is until recently.

As the release date for man of steel approached and more and more trailers released…I found myself thinking a lot about why we like superheroes so much, and specifically about why superman has really fallen from the heights of his popularity throughout the years.

After all, the man of steel reboot itself has been marketed as an update of the superman mythos with a greater appeal to todays audiences. What makes superman different from the other characters we love and why the need for the makeover?

Many of you may not care or think that putting this much thought into a comic-based movie is a foolish waste of time, but I think within these questions we discover important truths about ourselves. I think I discover my desire to be my own savior.

Superheroes like batman, spider-man, the black-widow, the hulk, the x-men, etc. appeal to a wide audience, and the reason is because we find them easy to relate to due to their flaws. Each of these characters has faults or a dark-side. They are far from perfect and yet they still get to be the hero. This appeals to something deep inside me. I am able to put myself in their place and imagine that I am the one who saves the day.

I love a broken hero because that is the only type of hero I could ever be.

old-Superman-comic-cover-superman-84977_590_816The good ol’ man of steel is not like this. We find it difficult to relate with him because he is too perfect. He has every power, perfect character, perfect hair, and on and on. His only weakness has historically been rocks from his true hometown…again, not relatable.

In the truest sense, superman seems like a savior coming from the outside to rescue us. The only place for us in the superman mythos is to imagine ourselves as the one being rescued…we could never be the rescuer in the red cape.

I believe that is why the new Man of Steel movie really goes out of the way to connect Kal-el with humanity. In more or less words it is said that he needed to be “truly human” so  he could serve as a bridge between Kryptonians and humans. There is a much greater emphasis on his relationship with his earthly father, Jonathan Kent, than with Jor-el. Even the title of the film emphasizes his ability to identify with humanity…the first word is MAN.

Yes, he has amazing strength and abilities, but they want us to think of him as a MAN of steel. Here is a superman that we can hopefully identify with…a savior we can hopefully accept so that he can fly back to the heights of his former fame.

That’s all well and good for the world of comic book storytelling…but in reality…is this what we need? Do we need a MAN of steel?

We want so badly to save ourselves and our make-believe media keeps trying to tell a story where that is actually possible. We, humankind, can become the hero/heroines we need to be and, despite our character flaws, save the day. But is that truth? Can we become men/women of steel? Is that even what we need?

I believe we need just the opposite. I believe we have been given just the opposite in Jesus. When you really think about it…Jesus and Superman are not alike…they are actually completely different! And this is good news…because…

baby jesus in mangerWe don’t need a man of steel…we need a God of flesh.

God himself took on flesh. He could identify with us in every way, yet he was without sin. He stepped into this world not made of steel, but made of skin. He was tempted, he cried, he sweat, he bled…he died.

He took on our greatest enemies…the enemies within that corrupt, and the enemies without that kill. He took on sin, death, and the devil…and defeated them all by rising from the dead! He alone is our savior! The one who knows all our weaknesses for he was born, truly human, yet he was and is truly God.

We DO need a savior, not from the stars, but from among us. We need a savior who is one of us, but is not us. The good news of the Gospel is that we have been given one such savior…only one…Jesus Christ. He was not a man of steel…

He was and is the God of flesh.

*PS – I enjoyed the movie. Not the greatest film ever, but I thought it was worth seeing once in the theater.

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June 18, 2013

Letter #7: Pride is a Problem

Dear Jonathan,

So I’m going to dispense with introductory small talk and jump right into something that has been on my heart since I received your last letter. Please don’t think of me as being judgmental, but I have to be honest with you.

Hello-My-Sin-Is-PridePride is a problem…a massively destructive problem!

I encourage you to go back and read your letter again to see if you can catch what I’m talking about. You really seem to be enjoying your theological studies, but you must be very careful as you gain more and more knowledge concerning the things of God. There is a knowledge that puffs up, but the good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way.

In fact, the more we come to know the Lord, the more our hearts should be humbled before him. I think of Paul who eventually grew to think of himself as the chief of sinners (that’s right…he “grew” into this). True knowledge of the Lord humbles us! That is “growth!” If our knowledge builds pride…then we either do not truly understand or believe the things we are learning.

While I was in seminary I felt as though I was on a roller coaster of pride and humility. One moment I caught myself lording my newfound knowledge over my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (in class and in the church), and the next moment I was in tears before the Lord who was more awesome than I had ever imagined.

I found that the classroom could either puff me up or humble me. It could provide me with intellectual ammunition or internal adoration. Jonathan, what you learn in the classroom should lead you to one place…worship.

If seminary doesn’t drive you to your knees then you are merely gaining more knowledge about God, not actually coming to know more of God.

Oh…one last thing…don’t try to blame seminary for this problem of pride. I used that excuse for the longest time. Seminary is not a producer of pride…our hearts are the pride factory. If you find yourself struggling with pride…the problem is not outside you, but within and that is where the battle must be fought and won.

This battle is fought, not with more knowledge about God, but with knowing more of God. By the power of the Holy Spirit…fight! Fight this battle! It is a battle for your soul! You face many dangers in seminary, but nothing is more soul destroying and ministry neutralizing than pride!

Pride is a problem…a massively destructive problem!

Fight to know God and be humbled before him.

Grace and Peace,

J

*To know/understand the premise behind these letters please click here. 

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June 16, 2013

A Nagaland Father’s Day…

*In 2010, I was on mission in India during Father’s day. The following is a reflection I wrote shortly after what I experienced that morning…

Being away from your family stinks. Being away from your family on Father’s Day really, really bites. Thus, I found myself throwing a pity party as I sat down on the back row of Naga Christian Fellowship in Pune, India… nearly half-a-world away from my beautiful wife and two, precious, little ones.

It was hot and humid inside the old church building. The sound of the worship leader was being pumped through a system that was not fitted for the room we were in, and, as a result, I couldn’t really understand anything that was being sung or said. I found it hard to focus, so my mind occupied itself with thoughts of my family.

I was completely oblivious as to what was happening when the Pastor called for all the fathers to come to the front in order to be recognized. My friends immediately began encouraging me to go forward, but I declined… of course this was nothing more than a sulking expression of my self-pity… in which I was wallowing.

Then, Eddie Aldape, the father of the missionary family with whom I am staying, motioned for me to follow him down the center aisle. What choice did I have now? I hobbled out of my row and began the long, dreary walk to the front of the room. Each step was fraught with agonizing pain as I had just completed a fundraising 100km-walk-a-thon the day before. Further, I was embarrassed to be standing in front of complete strangers… I simply felt out of place.

Then everything changed…

Naga spearsA young Naga girl approached me with a pin of some type. I thought to myself, “Great! A stereo-typical Father’s Day flower.” Yet, as she pinned it upon my shirt I could tell that this was no flower. There, attached to the top of my shirt-pocket, were two decorative spears fastened across one another. Eddie leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Those are Naga spears.”

“They’re what?” I asked. Eddie repeated himself and began to explain to me the meaning behind the small pendant that was resting upon my chest.

Nagaland is a state of Northeast India. The Naga people were originally tribal headhunters and were greatly feared. In the late 1800’s there were a number of missionaries trying to travel into China, but were prevented for one reason or another. Instead of giving up, many brought the gospel of Christ to the people of Northern India.

Some of these missionaries set their hearts upon the headhunters of Nagaland. Without regard for their own lives, these men and women of faith took the Gospel to people who normally removed the heads of outsiders. They shared the love of Christ and the message of the Gospel… many Nagas believed.

As I stood at the front of that church, hearing that story… my eyes were slowly opened to what was truly happening in that room. There I stood, before a gathering of nearly 400 Naga believers lifting their hearts to the one true God… and the reason for it all was pinned upon my chest.

Because faithful men and women of God took the gospel into the midst of danger… because they did not count their lives to be of greater value than the furtherance of the gospel… because they abandoned all this world has to offer for the sake of Christ… because they did not fear the spears of the Nagas… because God worked through them by his power to bring many Nagas to faith… because of all of this, I was in that place… over a hundred years later… caught in the midst of rapturous worship with Naga spears, now a symbol of friendship, fixed over my heart.

I began to fight back tears as I heard a chorus playing softly in the background… “Thank you for the gift you gave.” This song had been playing since I left my seat, but I had not noticed its lyrics until that moment. My heart cried out to the Lord… “Yes! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for the gift you gave! Thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus, whom you gave for the world! Thank you for the gift of the missionaries you sent to the Naga people! Thank you gift of my brothers and sisters with whom I am worshipping right now! Thank you! Thank you!”

My attention was brought back down to earth for a moment as I heard the Pastor read from Psalm 22:4, “In You our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.” He began to talk about how great of a testimony it was for David to be able to proclaim such words about his forbearers and we should desire that our children be able to say the same of us.

While I greatly appreciated the thoughts he was sharing, my mind journeyed in a slightly different direction. I began to praise the Lord for my faithful fathers in the faith. For those who have taken the gospel in to the deepest, darkest, and most dangerous places on earth. I stood among a church whose very existence testified to the faithfulness of my spiritual fathers… and more importantly… their presence testified to the faithfulness of my heavenly Father.

He is faithful to use his Gospel to transform people… He used it to transform Nagaland… and He has used it to transform me.

In that moment… I realized that I was not away from my family on Father’s day… I was standing in their very midst. I am nearly brought to tears now, in the midst of typing, as I think about the astounding reality that I am eternally bound to these believers through the one Savior of all mankind, Jesus Christ. I have never felt the bond of spiritual brotherhood so strongly as in that moment. Jesus’ words from Matthew 12, which I had read that very morning, flooded into my mind…

“‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.’”

I was completely overwhelmed by the sense of family in that room. I still missed my wife and children, but now I missed them for a new reason. I did not miss them because we are bound together on some molecular level by DNA… no. Now I missed them because the very blood of Jesus Christ has cemented our hearts together as part of a world-wide spiritual family with one Father over us all. My heart longed to share this moment, this reality with them.

The Pastor prayed for all of the fathers standing before him and we headed back to our seats. I found that I couldn’t quit looking at the two small spears resting upon my shirt. In them I saw an eternal bond that I shared with these people I barley knew… and I now felt a new, deeper bond with those to whom I am the closest.

I walked all the way back down the aisle, but now I had forgotten the pain in my feet… my mind was occupied with thoughts of my beautiful wife and two precious children. I felt as though my love for them had grown deeper in ways that I did not think possible. At the same time, I was overwhelmed by the fact that this newfound love seemed to be spreading outside of biological boundaries and engulfing all of my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I shuffled down my row… no longer thinking of myself, for my pity had been replaced by joy. With my stereo-typical smirk, I sat down… surrounded by my family.

 

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