As I grow in self awareness I am realizing that I often desire to play the role of hero or savior. I like to think of myself as “the good guy” or the one in the right. I like being helpful, the one people can depend on. The one who cares and whose absence is felt by others. I get defensive in conflict because I think, “Why can’t they see and appreciate my good intentions and why can’t they see how right I am?” I can overlook and minimize my own sinfulness and weaknesses to fit this hero narrative I create in my head.  Surely, I’m never at fault! I like to think I am the Batman of my life. But that is not the role God has for me. For the sake of this analogy, Jesus is the Batman. He is the one with the power to fight injustice and be the hero. He is the only one who is always in the right. He is the only one who can save. So what roles do I play?

The Nemesis

This one is hard for most people to believe. In our Western frame of mind, most people would say that they are generally a good person who does more good than harm. A nice person. “I mean, I do some bad things, but no one is perfect. It’s not like I’ve ever killed anybody.” However, this isn’t the message the Bible presents. Romans 5:10 says, “If, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son . . .” Ephesians 2 says that we are all by nature children under God’s wrath because of our wicked actions and thought patterns. Jesus said in an offhanded comment, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things” (Matthew 7:11).  And Jesus in a parable said, “Bring here these enemies of mine who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter them in my presence” (Luke 19:27). All of these verses communicate that rejection of Jesus as king of our lives makes us his enemy. “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Luke 11:23). Sin in its many expressions is the result of rejecting Jesus as our king.

Sin is a reality for every person. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). Sin is our desire to take the place of God. We can express our sin through an attitude of active rebellion or through passive indifference. Our sin separates us from God. Because we are all sinners, we all start out as God’s enemies, and there is no amount of good things we can do to get ourselves back on God’s good side. I know this is a heavy topic and really bad news, but the story doesn’t end here. God has provided a way for us to move from an enemy to his friend.

The One in Need of Rescue

The next step is recognizing our sin and our need to be rescued.  One of the most common descriptions of Jesus is “Savior” (24 occurrences in the New Testament). God “has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim 1:9-10).

One pitfall people fall into when they become aware of their sin is that they will try really hard to not do that sin again and do good things instead. They might fall into a “If I just…” mindset. “If I just go to church enough, if I just pray enough, if I just read my bible more, if I just add more boundaries, then my sin problem will go away and I’ll be right with God.” However, as the verse above states we are saved “not according to our works”, but by the grace of Christ through faith. We can’t be good enough to save ourselves from our sin. Our sin problem was and is so drastic that God sent his beloved Son to be tortured and killed on our behalf. Jesus went to the cross because there was no other way to bring humanity back to God (Mark 14:35-36).

Christians are not the ones who never do bad things, they are the ones who realize that they don’t have the power to save themselves, and trust in Jesus’ righteousness alone. In the picture above, Harvey could have thought, “I’ve been going to the gym a lot, if I just pull hard I can break these bonds.” Or, “I’m really smart, I can for sure figure out a way to stop the bomb from detonating.” However, if it wasn’t for Batman, Harvey and Rachel would have shared the same fate. Like Harvey, we need a Savior to rescue us from fiery  destruction. We are unable to save ourselves.

The Side-kick

Trinity City Church’s shortened mission statement is “Joining God in the renewal of our city and world.” It is mind-blowing to me that the all-powerful sovereign God who created the whole universe uses sinful, easily distracted, often selfish people to bring about his plan of redemption. In terms of efficiency, it would make a lot more sense for God to do it all himself. Surely God can preach the gospel better, encourage people more holistically, heal and care for people more effectively. Yet, he chooses to use his people, his church, to accomplish his mission: “to reconcile everything to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross– whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Colossians 1:20).

Believers are called God’s co-laborers in his plan of restoration. God empowers his people with his Spirit to do his will. Jesus tells us that those who believe in him will do even greater works than he did (John 14:12), and that it is for our benefit that he leave the earth (John 16:7). These profound statements are true because of the work of the Holy Spirit. Ordinary people do amazing things for God’s kingdom. I’m sure each of you can think of somebody who has had a profound impact on your life. That was the result of God working in and through an ordinary and sinful person for your good.

Think about the dynamic between Batman and Robin. Robin has some natural skills, but is not likely to succeed on his own. Batman has greater wisdom, strength, and gadgets, without which Robin would probably get killed. He is a great helper and side-kick to Batman, but in a lot of ways Batman doesn’t need Robin (he didn’t in the Christopher Nolan movies). In the same way, God doesn’t need us, yet he demonstrates how great he is by doing amazing things through unlikely people. God showed his greatness when he changed the Apostle Paul from somebody who killed Christians into a Christian who would preach Christ even if it meant losing his own life. In his grace, God calls sinful people to make him known and bring restoration to hearts, communities, cities, and the world.

The Imposter

The last stage is when we forget our place and start believing that we can do everything on our own. We start thinking we have everything figured out, and that we don’t need any help. That we don’t have any issues or sins that distort how we do things. We forget that Jesus tells us “You can do nothing without me” (John 15:5). We slowly drift from “Thy kingdom and Thy will be done” to “My kingdom come and my will be done”.

In the scene pictured about, the fake Batman asked, “What gives you the right? What’s the difference between you and me?” To which Batman epicly responds, “I’m not wearing hockey pads.” It was foolish and dangerous for those people to try to be Batman. Not only that, by using guns they were in opposition to Batman’s one rule of not killing people. In trying to be Batman they actually stood in opposition to Batman’s code of ethics. In the same way, it is foolish and dangerous to think of yourself as an all-star Christian who has it all together. When we start trying to be Jesus rather than trying to be more like Jesus, we end up in opposition to God and his plan. Andy Mineo captures this in his song “Superhuman“:

“Even though my pride’s telling me “don’t let the fans know”,
I am not a superhuman though,
I’m a man,
so the grace that I talk about on all my records,
I need it for myself, cause really I’m just a mess.”

Andy has probably impacted millions of people through his music, and with that he recognizes the potential for pride to creep in. God is gracious and calls us to be bold and use the gifts he has given to accomplish his plan. We are made in God’s image to bring forth goodness. At the same time, we are sinners in constant need to turn back to God, and in constant need to grow. My hope is to continue to take bold action for God’s kingdom and glory, while keeping in mind that I’m not as smart or holy as I want others to think. God is calling us to be both humble and courageous. No matter how long you have walked with Christ, you are still a sinner saved by grace, so you can’t boast in yourself. You are also “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph 2:10). The call to live bold and humble seems like a contradiction, but starts to make more sense when we realize he are the Robin of our story, not the Batman.