Not-So-Super Morality

The Bible has a number of examples of people who exhibited bravery in the midst of opposition, when facing sometimes extraordinary challenges, but who were faithful to God and reliant on His power. Philippians 1 says:
27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,
28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.

That conduct described as "worthy of the gospel" is produced through our willingness to abide in Christ; as He taught in John 15, we are the branches who abide in Him, the vine. So we have to stay connected to Him and to one another, so that His power might be demonstrated through His people. There will be adversaries - sometimes human, often supernatural and unseen, but we can remember that greater is He who is in us, the living Christ, than the enemy who seeks to defeat us, and God's power is available to embolden us when we face those who are hostile to the message of Christ.  

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The changing of the guard was about to take place in the life of Israel - Moses, who had led the people in the wilderness, was handing the leadership role over to Joshua, and he made a public pronouncement that we find in Deuteronomy chapter 31:
7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.
8 And the Lord, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."

The announcement has come that another comic book hero will be engaging in immoral sexual behavior in upcoming installments - according to Faithwire, Superman, the Man of Steel, will be "depicting Jon Kent — the son of the original Superman, Clark Kent — as a bisexual man who strikes up a romantic relationship with male reporter Jay Nakamura."

A former television Superman disputes the creator's contention that this is a "bold" move.  The article notes that:

Dean Cain, who portrayed the Man of Steel in the 1990s television show “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” is calling out DC Comics for “bandwagoning” for depicting the latest iteration of the superhero as bisexual.

Cain contends that the direction is neither "bold" nor "brave."  The article goes on to say:

The actor asked “who’s really shocked” about the direction when other superheroes, like DC’s Robin and Marvel’s Captain America, are bisexual and homosexual, respectively.

Cain made his comments on Fox and Friends; related to Superman, he says, “They’re talking about having him fight climate change and the deportation of refugees and he’s dating a hacktivist — whatever a hactivist is,” Dean continued. “Why don’t they have him fight the injustices that created the refugees whose deportation he’s protesting? That would be brave, I’d read that.”  Cain contends, "There’s real evil in this world today, real corruption and government overreach, plenty of things to fight against. Human trafficking — real and actual slavery going on… It’d be great to tackle those issues.”

Earlier this year, The Christian Post ran a story about a film in which Cain starred; the article relates:

He stars in the new film “Trafficked: A Parent’s Worst Nightmare,” inspired by multiple true stories from American suburban families whose lives were uprooted after one of their children was abducted and trafficked.

"I just think it's a hugely important topic and subject for today that people don't really appreciate how dangerous it is, [and] how many predators exist out there for our children,” Cain told The Christian Post. “My son is 20 years old now but I've been having these conversations with him for 20 years, about the internet and people and safety and situational awareness and all these different things.”

The article also notes the role of the Church in fighting this activity, stating:

Cain, who is a professing Christian, said there are things people of faith can do to help combat this great evil.

“Trafficked” features a scene where a church gets involved and rescues a young lady being held as a prisoner. The actor called it "one of the most powerful moments" in the film.

"You have to talk about the ugliness of it, and you can get involved,” he emphasized. "You'd love to think that your faith could bring you to a place where you could be that heroic for someone.”

Cain noted his fondness for being involved in faith-based films:

"I like making movies of faith and discussing faith and showing faith in a positive light. I feel like there's been a real big-time attack on Christianity and morality in a sense recently, and I don't agree with it,” he states.

The Michigan native works regularly with a group called JC films that makes ministry films.

Dean Cain, as well as Antonio Sabato, Jr., who stars in the latest God's Not Dead film and has launched his own studio, are committed to being part of telling stories that influence culture with truth consistent with Scripture. Good for them, and good for anyone who wants to share stories that make an impact - consider the story God has written in your life can be influential in someone else's life. 

This is a time for bravery - the culture is moving in a direction away from God, and it could be very easy for people of faith to be spectators, watching this decline from the sidelines.  But, I believe Christ is calling us into the game, to see how we can reclaim our culture, in small and large ways, and point people who are seeking hope in the direction of our Savior, who is our living hope.

We recognize that not all of us are called to be Superman or Superwoman, but we can be a hero to people because we choose to follow the Savior with our whole hearts.  We can seek to be a hero in our marriages, our families, our churches, our workplaces, and our relationships.  Not because we are great in ourselves, but because we depend on our Savior, who is faithful to those who submit to Him.