The surprising nature of Christian superheroes
The surprising nature of Christian superheroes appears when you realize they’re not happy meal action figures. What’s the number one characteristic of a Biblical superhero? Think Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Deborah, Rahab, Ruth, Esther, Samuel, David, Elijah, Daniel, Paul, John, and more. Then, of course, there’s Jesus—the ultimate superhero.
The primary characteristic is seen in Romans 4:3 “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Or in Hebrews 11, especially verse 6, “without faith it is impossible to please God”.
So, how do we write characters with this surprising nature of Christian superheroes?
If we write about superheroes, we don’t talk about their doubts or fears, we talk about their powerful acts. In the Kingdom, these are powerful acts of faith. They are performed because of the close personal relationship between the hero and the King.
Faith, in essence, means trusting in one who is able. You cannot trust if you don’t know the one trusted is able to keep his word and do what he promises. In addition, it only makes sense to trust if the trusted one has all power, all knowledge, all wisdom, always there—and if he loves you.
So, a Christian superhero knows Jesus intimately, and trusts him completely—all day, every day. “But humans aren’t like that!” We’re talking superheroes, remember.
Obedience holds it together
Superheroes hear what the Lords asks, and say, “Yes, Sir.” If fear and doubt attack him or her, they are directly attacked on a spiritual level.
Why? Because fear and doubt are tools of the enemy. The superhero knows we are fighting a real enemy, ruthless, cunning, and nasty. He or she also knows, for certain, that the enemy is a defeated foe. In the Messiah, no demon, or even the original rebel—Satan himself, can resist the orders of The Lord. A superhero knows where his or her power is, and it’s not within the hero—except for the fact that He lives there within. A superhero shows the wonder of trusting and obeying The King of the Universe.
I agree. You can tell if someone is real or not. I use that in my characters a lot.
I think one very important characteristic of a Jesus superhero is “authenticity.” Authenticity goes hand in hand with Truth. I think there’s a lot of power in being authentic.