One of the biggest comeback fads of our culture today is the superhero craze. When my dad was growing up, comic books telling the adventures of Superman, Batman, and The Avengers were in style. Superheroes have been making a comeback in our movie and TV industry. With The Avengers, Batman, and Superman movies on the big screen and Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl on TV, we are seeing a trend. If you want to make it big in the entertainment industry, make it all about superheroes.
I love the superhero world. I have unashamedly binge watched Arrow and The Flash. Even when I was a kid, The Incredibles was my favorite Disney movie.
What makes superheroes such a compelling theme?
Superheroes fight the battles we want to fight and win.
As I binge watch superhero shows and movies, I start to want to be a superhero. I want to have super-human strength, I want to be the fastest girl in the world, I want to fly. The problem is, this will never happen. We are not superheroes.
If I stood on train tracks and put my hands up to stop a runaway train, the train would not stop. I would get flatten and die immediately. If I jumped in the air, I would still succumb to the force of gravity.
If we tried to save the world from all of the daily disasters we face, we would fail. But, we want to save the world. We want to be the person someone calls when they need help, the person who can easily solve a problem, and we want to be the person who is above and beyond great. As I create this mindset in my head, I realize I am setting myself up for failure. I try to be perfect and become discouraged when I am not able to meet my own expectations.
There will be days where I will feel like the world is crashing around me. There will be days where I will be exhausted and unable to help anyone. There will be days when I will not know what to do.
The good news is, I do not have to save the world because the world has already been saved.
God humbled himself, the most powerful in the world, as Jesus Christ who died for our sins. He already saved the world. We are free to fail.
God does not expect us to be perfect, He knows there will be days when we fail. When we fall, He gives us strength to get back up again. He continues to save us on the days when we cannot save ourselves.
Go out into the world and save it to the best you can, but know in the end, someone far greater than you has already saved the world.