Superman Christianity

In Superman 4, Kal-El (i.e. Superman) is battles his new arch-nemesis Nuclear Man for a long time (approximately 90 minutes [93 if you live in Finland], which is generally the amount of time it takes to defeat a bad guy, solve a crime, or learn a life lesson).

Nuclear Man is a clone of Superman who possesses all the same powers as the man in tights (with the addition of unsightly fingernails), yet has one deficiency: he needs the power of the yellow sun. Superman does too, but this David Bowie impersonator simply can’t fight without it. Superman finally defeats him by fighting him on the dark side of the moon, then buries him in a nuclear reactor (who didn’t see that one coming?).

I generally use this story to illustrate my genetic need to live in the South. Seasonal Affectedness Disorder (SAD) afflicts 1.5% of Americans, with the most typical symptom being depression during long winter months. In short, Seasonal Affectedness Disorder and the state of Oregon teach us one thing: people need sunshine to live healthy lives. Great cheese comes from happy cows. Happy cows live in California. Although I do not technically have SAD, I often experience a noticeable loss of energy during several consecutive days of grayness and empathize with the SAD people.

But beyond the need for sunshine, I think the best use of this story fits with us and the Holy Spirit. As Christians, the vitality that the indwelling of the Lord God provides is simply irreplaceable. The Spirit literally provides life (Rom. 8:10), yet so many Christians survive without it. Why, and how, is that?

The why is pretty simple: living in the Spirit takes work. Like all relationships, your connection with God takes daily effort and intentionality. I’ve not yet seen a relationship in which both people said one day, “Hey, let’s get married,” got married, then were a part of a thriving union despite never talking to each other thereafter. Any kind of intimacy is the product of a continual choice to prioritize and dedicate oneself to expending the time and energy necessary to get to know each other. Like a living organism, death begins once growth stops. In physics terms, relationships exist in a dampened system. We know this—it’s common sense. Yet for some reason, 90% of Christians (that statistic is completely made up) reject the normal rules of relationships and think they can get by with little-to-no attention given to their internal reality.

The how is slightly more complicated: if we really need the Holy Spirit that badly, then how is it that people survive without it? Francis Chan, in his book The Forgotten God (3 stars), offers the beginnings of an explanation:

“For some reason, we don’t think we need the Holy Spirit. We don’t expect the Holy Spirit to act. Or if we do, our expectations are often misguided or self-serving. Given our talent set, experience, and education, many of us are fairly capable of living rather successfully (by the world’s standards) without any strength from the Holy Spirit” (p. 31).

Although he would agree that even those who openly reject God need the Holy Spirit for every single breath, it’s obvious that people who choose to ignore God can still be “successful.” If you just want to live a normal, decent life, then you can do so without relying on the daily sustenance of God’s presence. Nuclear Man didn’t need the Sun to survive, just for his superpowers to work. Although the Spirit offers much more than simple abilities, you can’t live a supernatural life without it.

Chan thinks (rightly so) that we should be unsatisfied with this “fairly adequate” life:

“I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn’t be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for Him to come through. That is He doesn’t come though, I am screwed” (p. 142).

Without the supernatural indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we’re Power Wheels without batteries, superheroes without powers. Who wants to be Batman when you could be Superman? (If you are one of those people who thinks Batman is cooler than Superman, then you are hopeless and possibly not a Christian. Let me know so I can pray for you.) I, for one, am not okay with living a mediocre life. That’s not what we’re created for or called to. That’s why I continually seek to dwell in the life-giving power of the Son.

(Audible groan as I end with typically cheesy Christian pun.)

Books, Humility, & God’s Holiness

One of the greatest inventions of the last century has been the book. Before books, men read scrolls, and women didn’t read anything. Although this may sound ideal to some of you, it actually wasn’t. People were uneducated and couldn’t spel, which is one of the few abilities that separate us from animals (“Curses!” suspired the poor platypus, angrily).

But then along came this guy named Gutenberg—an ingenious fellow with enough time on his hands to both invent the printing press and star in the summer blockbuster “It Takes Two” with superstars Mary Kate & Ashley Olson.

Steve (which is apparently short for Johannes) single-handedly made knowledge available to everyone—much like Amazon will do for the print-illiterate generation with its Kindle (formerly known as the iPod or nano-iPad).

This was a big deal for lots of reasons, but the implication that I’m writing about (ironically so) is the small collection of books I’ve been reading recently. As a part of a new venture to actually learn things in school instead of just passing tests, in the last couple years I’ve begun reading (for definition, see “intensive skimming”) texts assigned in class. One such exposition was a treatise on humility called, appropriately enough, Humility. This subject has been of increased interest to me as of late, so I dove in heartily and actually (in quintessential nerd fashion) finished it before the beginning of the semester. (Note: Such a venture should be embarked upon cautiously, as references in class to previously-completed readings will certainly draw the scorn of friends, classmates, and most professors.)

The book, which was exceptional in its practicality, suggested as an application that those truly seeking humility begin a study of God, especially His holiness, as a means to become more humble. The logic goes like this: If you come to know God and His holiness, you will consequently understand your sin in greater clarity and thus become more humble. Pursuing humility is thus something akin to the pursuit of happiness: we find it best when it comes as a by-product of greater things. If you want to be happy, dedicate yourself to joy independent of circumstances, and seek to love others. If you want to be humble, learn who God is and who you are in light of His majesty.

Brennan Manning offers a similar thought in Ragamuffin Gospel:

“There is an essential connection between experiencing God, loving God, and trusting God. You will trust God only as much as you know Him. And you will love Him to the extent you have touched Him, rather that He has touched you.”

We have to experience God if we are to become more like Him, and we need to understand His holiness if we will be humble.

All the preceding developments led me to where I am right now: reading The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul. Robert Charles, like his buddy Gutengberg, was apparently a multi-tasker as well (if you don’t believe me, you haven’t experienced his tasty Coke alternative) but was also a great book writer. This is my first interaction with Sproul (pronounced SPROLL, like a portmanteau of Spree and Rolo, which, if combined, could be the world’s greatest candy ever), and I’ve found him to be thoughtful while still communicating clearly and simply. (Think Os Guinness or Henri Nouwen.) His unfolding of the Biblical theme of God’s holiness is refreshing as well as convicting, and I recommend it. It drives me back to prayer and Scripture, which is what any good (Christian) book does. But none of this personal growth would be possible were it not for the advent of books.

I know I’ve rambled a bit, so in case you lost me, here’s the point of the whole post: Although they’ve slimmed down a lot and their popularity has seemed to deteriorate much in recent years because of the development of newer, more attractive alternatives, no one can dispute the timeless value of the Olson twins, especially with regard to their family-friendly comedy “It Takes Two.” Watch it with a friend. But just in case you get bored during the movie, bring a book.

Hola, El Internet

Hello, blog world.

Actually, I guess this introduction should technically be, “Hi, blog world—it’s good to see you again. You might not remember me, but we’ve met at least a couple times. Once, when my freshman English teacher in college made me start a blog, then again once I tried unsuccessfully to reach worldwide acclaim by posting funny thoughts on the internet. Both of those were kind of short-lived, so here’s hoping our relationship lasts longer than that one time I dated a girl for a day after summer camp. Sincerely yours, Josh”

Actually, that last comparison’s not bad. Just like that ill-fated dating arrangement in which I dated a girl when I really liked her best friend, creating a blog may just be me fulfilling my appetence to be published for real. If we stick with that metaphor, then I guess I should apply what I learned from that experience: be honest up front. Well, here goes:

I’m a Christian. I like to write. I amuse myself, and it seems other people occasionally fall prey to that reaction as well. I’m from Texas, but I live in Indiana and am moving to the Boston area. I like big words. I have lots of random hobbies of which writing is one. This is an exercise to make myself more disciplined at writing for fun with regularity. Occasionally, I might share something serious, but in general, these postings will contain some bit of humor. If you continue reading, you might even experience some genre variation. Some will be funny, some might be thought provoking, and a lot of it will probably be boring and disinteresting. I guess that’s up to you, though.

Now, this is the part of the relationship where I get applauded for honesty. “Josh, that’s sweet. I really appreciate you trying to do the right thing. Now I really want to date you.” To which I reply, “I don’t know if you heard what I said…” You assure me that you did, which I don’t believe, but we get together anyway. Then after a short while (3-5 hours) you find out that I wasn’t just being humble when I told you how lame I was and you decide you don’t want to date a loser. That’s fine. Disappointing, but kind of what I anticipated.

So here’s where I call an audible. Instead of us entering into an exclusive relationship, we’re going to try a digital media version of a friends-with-benefits relationship. I’ll do my random and sporadic writing thing, and you’ll read occasionally. But we won’t be exclusive. In fact, I encourage you to read people who have been doing this way longer than me and who are certainly funnier. Steve Conn & Dr. Awesome are two such people that I follow.

Inevitably, we’ll have to have another DTR (Define the Relationship) in the future, but I think this suffices for now. Until then…(end with a thoughtful witticism).