WHAT URBAN CHRISTIANS CAN LEARN FROM BUFFY AND SPIDEY
I read a review on Spiderman 2 in Newsweek last night and got to thinking about how parallel Spidey, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and urban Christians are. The whole premise of the first Spiderman’s box office success, in the minds of modern sociologists, is that as the first post-9/11 superhero, Spidey’s self-doubt and vulnerability resonated with Americans. As Newsweek put it, “Superman is who Americans wanted to be; Spiderman is who Americans are.”
The angst in Spiderman 2 continues, as the boy wonder with supernatural powers is haunted by guilt and burdened with responsibility. His Spiderman thing has caused him to lose the girl who loves him and prevented him from living a normal and happy life.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is similarly burdened. In the original movie, which of course spawned the wildly popular TV series with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy is torn between the responsibilities her powers and destiny place upon her, and the normal desire of a teenage girl to be, well, normal.
Fortunately, for the sake of the survival of the world, both Spidey and Buffy decide to take on the challenge of playing the role they were destined and equipped to play, and they vanquish the bad guys. But what about us urban Christians? God has given us a great work to do in cities, and great spiritual and material resources with which to fight this fight. At times, the call inspires a swelling of pride in our heart and we feel courageous enough to say yes.
But at other times, we are discouraged and downcast, pining for normalcy rather than choosing the burden of urban discipleship. The fight for justice – be it spiritual, relational, social, economic, political, or environmental – is the side of God, but that doesn’t make it the easy side to be on. Far from it.
It is not unlike how the author of Hebrews describes the great men and women of faith – they too, like Spidey and Buffy, experienced loneliness and opposition and doubt and hardship. But they chose the way of faith, and will forever be known as those “of whom the world was not worthy.”
What about us? We who have heard the call of God in our lives to do great things for Him and expect great things of Him, will we rise up like Spidey, Buffy, and the Hebrews 11 hall of faith? Will we say no to half-lives, normal lives, comfortable lives, in exchange for greatness? I pray so for my generation and myself.
I read a review on Spiderman 2 in Newsweek last night and got to thinking about how parallel Spidey, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and urban Christians are. The whole premise of the first Spiderman’s box office success, in the minds of modern sociologists, is that as the first post-9/11 superhero, Spidey’s self-doubt and vulnerability resonated with Americans. As Newsweek put it, “Superman is who Americans wanted to be; Spiderman is who Americans are.”
The angst in Spiderman 2 continues, as the boy wonder with supernatural powers is haunted by guilt and burdened with responsibility. His Spiderman thing has caused him to lose the girl who loves him and prevented him from living a normal and happy life.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is similarly burdened. In the original movie, which of course spawned the wildly popular TV series with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy is torn between the responsibilities her powers and destiny place upon her, and the normal desire of a teenage girl to be, well, normal.
Fortunately, for the sake of the survival of the world, both Spidey and Buffy decide to take on the challenge of playing the role they were destined and equipped to play, and they vanquish the bad guys. But what about us urban Christians? God has given us a great work to do in cities, and great spiritual and material resources with which to fight this fight. At times, the call inspires a swelling of pride in our heart and we feel courageous enough to say yes.
But at other times, we are discouraged and downcast, pining for normalcy rather than choosing the burden of urban discipleship. The fight for justice – be it spiritual, relational, social, economic, political, or environmental – is the side of God, but that doesn’t make it the easy side to be on. Far from it.
It is not unlike how the author of Hebrews describes the great men and women of faith – they too, like Spidey and Buffy, experienced loneliness and opposition and doubt and hardship. But they chose the way of faith, and will forever be known as those “of whom the world was not worthy.”
What about us? We who have heard the call of God in our lives to do great things for Him and expect great things of Him, will we rise up like Spidey, Buffy, and the Hebrews 11 hall of faith? Will we say no to half-lives, normal lives, comfortable lives, in exchange for greatness? I pray so for my generation and myself.
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