This weekend, Zack Snyder's latest installment from the DC Extended Universe, "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," took the box office by storm.
Caution: This post can contain minor spoilers so do not proceed prior to watching the movie. Don't worry, there's a bookmark function on your browser.
Reflecting on the storyline of the film, one can also actually learn a Christian lesson or two from the characters. Some blogs have looked at the obvious and pointed to Jesus as the "Superman" of our world, defeating the powers of darkness by sacrificing His whole life so that the whole world could be free of the menace of a Doomsday.
I'd like to take a different angle this time around and see it from the perspective of us being our own Supermen. Every Christian is a "Superman" in some way or another, carrying limitless power that one can only imagine. That's the power of the Holy Spirit that is made available to us through Jesus Christ.
But beneath all that power, we must always remember that there is a Clark Kent in all of us who is conflicted and often confused. One great aspect of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" is that it gives us a glimpse of a multi-faceted Clark Kent who is in great conflict not just with bad guys, but with external forces such as politics and critics, and even with internal conflicts.
Inside every Spirit-empowered Christian is a fragile mind and soul that must remind us that without God, we are limited.
2 Corinthians 4:7-8 reminds us, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."
Are you dealing with your inner Clark Kent today? Guess what? We all do, but that is God's way of reminding us that just like Superman, we can be conflicted, too, and just like Superman (major spoiler alert!) we can be defeated even killed.
John 10:10 reminds us that there is a super villain, an enemy that sets out to "steal, kill and destroy," but we have the assurance of greater power that overcomes any weight, even the biggest weight that is sin and death.
It's good to be reminded of the jars of clay that we are made of, broken, incomplete, abused and battered without the presence of God in our life, but in our weakness, God's strength and grace are magnified.
Are you facing your own conflicted and confused "Clark Kent" today? When was the last time that you reminded yourself of your weaknesses and chose to magnify God as your strength?
