Saturday, August 16, 2008

Confession No. 8: I Was a Superhero Sidekick



What a day! I went to the beach with some family and friends and was able to spend a few hours with 7-year old Jaime. Jaime is an expert in all things superhero. Primarily Batman and Spiderman, but his character of the day was someone called Sub-zero. As we fought evil one wave at a time, I decided that I was going to need an official superhero name as well as special powers. I finally settled on The Encourager. (Jaime asked if my character was related somehow to The Incredible Hulk.) I told him that my special power involved being able to kill with kindness. He looked a little confused, but was happy to play along.

Jaime... I mean, Sub-zero decided that I could be his sidekick. The only problem was that after coming up with a great name like The Encourager... it just felt like I should play a bigger role than "sidekick." After several minutes of negotiations, it was evident that he was not going budge on his decision. After all, it was his game. He created it and if I wanted to keep playing, I was going to need to play by his rules.

Before the day was over, I wondered if I'd been trying to steal the spotlight from GOD the same way that I was trying to do with Sub-zero. God created me to love and serve him, yet somehow I started to think that this life was all about me and my great ideas and accomplishments. I tried to make myself the Hero rather than the sidekick and in doing so, I lost site of what it was all about.

...so today, it is with great honor that I am resuming my role as a loyal sidekick to my Hero! Will you join me? There are still many battles ahead of us and we need you on our team!

2 Corinthians 10:17-18
But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

Galatians 6:14
As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.

No comments: