We, your humble authors, were perusing the Internet while writing this book and stumbled on an incredible story from the Minneapolis/St. Paul City Pages website called “Superheroes in Real Life: Inspired by Comic Books, Ordinary Citizens Are Putting On Masks to Fight Crime.”1
Written by Ward Rubrecht, the article examines a new trend in superheroism: Reals. There’s a movement afoot in society today (albeit small) of average, ordinary citizens who are pulling on some sort of superhero garb and doing good in their communities.
The article begins by following a Real named “Geist”—a middle-aged man who sold off his comic book collection to fund his new life as a superhero—as he suits up in a duster, sunglasses, a wide-brim hat and “green iridescent mask,” along with a small assortment of non-lethal weapons like smoke bombs, pepper spray and “an Argentinean cattle-snare.”
Why is Geist so geared up? Because he’s about to deliver groceries to a local homeless shelter.
Such is the world of Reals, most of whom, as Geist puts it, are “basically normal people who just find an unusual way to do something good.” A few Reals are interested in busting the chops of drug dealers they may find, but most of them are just costumed people looking to align with a charity or cause, to lend some panache and publicity to an organization doing a good thing.
It’s an interesting idea, especially in light of our discussion here. Because what is Peter Parker if not a representation of us, the average person in the world? And what is Spider-Man if not a representation of what we would all like to be: super?
The great thing is that super deeds need not be limited to the comic book page or to the movie or television screen, as our Real friends point out. And as the apostle Paul pointed out, more than once, in his writings. Take, for example, 1 Corinthians 12:4-20. It’s long, but every word packs a punch:
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Such truth, captured in so few words.
But how does it apply here? Think of it this way: We all have a job to do. We all have a responsibility to this world to try to make it a better place. No, we can’t each individually change the world—but if we think of ourselves as all part of the same team, the same body, and we each individually do our own jobs, live out our own callings, then we can change the world. We can be super.
It’s available. It’s up to us.
Peter Parker is just a fictional character. Spider-Man was created by Stan Lee to sell comic books. But, as we have seen, spiritual truth permeates even modern myths—and though we may not have the power that comes from being bitten by a genetically modified spider, we do have super power.
So don’t wait for a fluke spider bite. Don’t wait for a freak lab accident to infuse you with green gas or to fuse your smart arms to your body. Don’t wait to fall into a particle accelerator.
Just take what you have, what God has given you, and be Real.
That’s all He asks.
You have great power. The great responsibility to use it is now up to you.
Change the world.
Your friendly neighborhood you.
Note
1. Ward Rubrecht, “Superheroes in Real Life: Inspired by Comic Books, Ordinary Citizens Are Putting On Masks to Fight Crime,” City Pages, January 15, 2008. Here’s the link, if you want to read it for yourself: http://www.citypages.com/2008-01-16/feature/superheroes-in-real-life/full/ (accessed January 2010).