Is God A Super Hero?
by Philip Asselin
There’s a children’s worship song going round called ‘Jesus is my Super Hero’. It has a catchy tune and good cartoon visual aids. It made me wonder. Is that what we as adults think of God? There are multitude of different super heroes to choose from; Superman, Spiderman, Captain America, Thor, The Hulk (sorry if I’ve missed your favourite off the list!). They all seem to have one significant thing in common. They don’t need the involvement of ordinary men and women like you or me.
There is a danger in the Church today to act as if God is a super hero not needing the assistance of His followers. After all, He can do anything He wants to do and is unrivalled in power and greatness. The next mental step from this to many believers is that God will do whatever He wants in this world with, or without, our help. He is in control and so nothing can happen unless He wills it, regardless of whether what happens is good or bad.
That might sound right, but let’s really think about it. The Bible is full of examples of bad things happening which God never intended, for instance David and Bathsheba, the Israelites making a golden calf to worship, and wandering in the wilderness for forty years. Take this modern world. Is God behind the abortion laws, removing the Bible from schools and the persecution of His followers around the world?
What we have seen, and are continuing to see, is man’s free will in action in all of its failings. So, what has happened to God? Where is He in all of this? This might come as a shock to many Christians, but God has delegated the responsibility for making ‘His kingdom come, on this earth as it is in Heaven’ to us. If we sit on the sidelines watching events taking place and doing nothing, then God’s will isn’t being done. Stop for a moment and think about that very carefully.
God’s plan A (no Plan B!) was, and is, to work through us, and, if we don’t step up to do our part, then evil prevails, just as it does in so many areas of life today. ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing’ is a quotation attributed to Edmund Burke.
We might think that we, on our own, can do little to change things, but we are quite wrong. God hasn’t left us on our own. His Holy Spirit is with us to empower us and use us, but we have to be prepared to stand up and be counted, to take that step of making Christ known. We have to be prepared to pray for people and with people, to bring the Good News to everyone, especially those we might believe don’t deserve to hear it, and to be God’s hands, feet and voice to a desperate world. We do it by one prayer, one soul, one visit, one gift, one expression of love at a time, and we do it together. What better time to start than now!
Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You that You aren’t a super hero, not needing or wanting any help from me to make disciples of all nations. You have given that responsibility to me and all other believers. Help me not to sit at the sidelines frustrated as the world around grows increasingly dark. Help me to seek to shine for You each day and push back the darkness. Amen.
Philip Asselin Philip is on the associate ministry and teaching teams with Glyndley Manor. He and his wife Gillian attended the second Healing Retreat at Glyndley Manor in 1992, and were greatly helped. They have two grown up children, one grandson, and a step-granddaughter in California, and a daughter and granddaughter in Eastbourne. His desire is to see people healed and set free to serve God.
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