Super?

In an age where the Church is being challenged to be relevant, I think we have to make sure that we
are being reverent toward God and His Word. Psalm 89 reminds us of His majesty:
6 For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?
7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.
8 O Lord God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

In the quest for relevance, I see instances where there is a lack of reverence.  We can make sure that we are never sacrificing a sense of awe for God by trying to package Him or brand Him in a way that we think will increase our numbers or popularity.  It's not about our popularity; it's about making Him famous.  The one true God does not need to be repackaged - sure methods may change in order to reach people, but we should be grounded in the fear of the Lord, with a sense of awe in His presence.

+++++

Jesus is worthy of all our praise, and we should seek to give Him the honor He deserves.  Hebrews 12 says:
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
29 For our God is a consuming fire.

We certainly know that Jesus is Lord of all, so our efforts to defend Him fall far short of His might and majesty; yet, He is deserving of reverence and respect.  When that is missing and He is being denigrated, then it's highly appropriate for those who believe in Him to speak out.

Some 200,000 people spoke up for Jesus when they discovered that a major comic book company, DC Comics, was planning to do a highly disrespectful and even blasphemous depiction of Christ.

Faithwire reports that:

“Second Coming,” a television series produced by DC Comics, has been canceled after 200,000 people signed a petition against its release on the grounds that it was “blasphemous.”

The series was based on a character with a Messiah complex — fitting because the main character was Jesus. The plot line follows the return of Jesus to Earth, where he teams up with a superhero named Sun-Man to fight evil.

According to the article, the plot summary contends that Jesus comes back to earth to "learn what it means to be the true messiah" from his superhero roommate. It states: “But when Christ returns to Earth, he’s shocked to discover what has become of his gospel — and now, he aims to set the record straight."

Writer Mark Russell disputes the "blasphemy" charges; Faithwire reports that the proposed show, according to an interview Russell did with the website, Bleeding Cool, "is about Jesus coming down and being appalled by what he sees has been done in his name by Christianity in the last two thousand years. He goes by a megachurch and they have a billboard of this Tom Brady-looking Jesus Christ throwing a football and he doesn’t even recognize himself which is a metaphor for him not recognizing what’s been done with the religion that bears his name.”  The article notes that Russell "grew up in the church."

One of the sticking points has to do with the Jesus character not knowing that things on earth had spun out of control.  Who knows, this may pop up again; DC cancelled the show, but Russell has the rights to it back. Oh, by the way, according to Faithwire, Russell has authored a book, God Is Disappointed In You, which was "billed as a condensed version of the Bible."

So, what can we take away from this unfortunate story?   Well, first of all, I think we can reflect on showing the appropriate respect for the things of God.  I still believe that we should demonstrate reverence for the Lord, and never bring Him down to our level.  We should possess an attitude of exaltation for our Savior.

The writer has a mistaken notion on the work of redemption that Jesus came to do.  He is not about "setting the record straight;" true, humanity without the Lord is under God's judgment - by its choice!  But, we can also choose to accept what He has done for us on the cross.  He is all about redeeming humanity and establishing His kingdom.

And, I don't want to get into the analogy of Jesus as a superhero; I don't think we need to reduce Him to that level.  True, His "superpowers" are unlimited and do not contribute to self-exaltation; rather, to exalt the Father - not to show off, but to show up in a mighty way.