My Favorite Superhero
If you had to pick a favorite superhero, who would it be? I love all the Marvel and D.C. Comics movies. I love watching the good guys crush the bad guys. If I had to pick a favorite, I think I would pick Captain America. He always shows up to save the day. He always does the right thing. No matter the odds, no matter how hopeless the situation, Captain America always rights the wrongs.
The Real Hero
We often forget who the hero in our life is. We have been duped over the years by thinking we are the hero in this story called life. We run around trying to fix people. We spend our time running from one hurt and broken person to the next, pouring out ourselves. We love others, encourage them, try to help them, while thinking that we are the hero in their story. But we have the story turned around. The hero is not us, and it’s not the church. The Hero is Jesus Christ.
We are to introduce people to Jesus. Jesus is the only One who can save us, forgive us, redeem us, and bring us hope and peace. Jesus is the Hero in each and every story.
Getting Tired of Being the Hero
We find ourselves getting discouraged and weary of helping and loving people. We want to stop the pain and the hurt that comes from loving people, from ministering to people because they only hurt us in return. We give and give, only to find no one to give back to us. We give until we are spent and have nothing left to give, yet no one seems to notice or care. It’s no wonder that so many pastors walk away from ministry, faithful church members leave the church, and people get hurt, offended, and fed up with the church.
Paul’s Confession
Paul understood this concept of being spent for people. He understood loving people and being there for them during their time of need. He also understood that the more he gave himself away to people, the more he gave his love away, the less it was returned.
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. II Corinthians 12:15
The Solution
The only way to keep giving and loving others is to remember that we can never be everything that people need us to be. We have to shed the hero complex and realize that we can not fix other people, no matter how much we want to. We have to remember that only God can. Love them, empathize with them, walk through tragedies with them, but always remember to continually point them back to the true hero, Jesus.
photo credit:
Porapak Apichodilok
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