Who Are You?

I like super heroes. The stories of good vs evil overcoming obstacles while helping others is exciting to me. I see it in a spiritual sense…the good-Jesus, overcoming evil-Satan, and saving the world! These heroes, minus a few, tend to keep their true identities separate from their hero persona. Bruce Wayne is hiding that he is Batman, Peter Parker is hiding that he is Spiderman. Their alter egos are that they are superheroes and they are hiding who they really are from the rest of the world. They put on a costume and fight crime.

Many superheroes have supernatural abilities and many of those abilities have come from alien sources or the heroes themselves are alien! Thor is from another realm, you have the Terragin mist that changed Skye, Daisy Johnson, into Quake and Andrew Garner into Lash (Agents of Shield), Flash has his speed ability because of lightning from the particle accelerator and I could go on...

Then there’s Superman.

Superman is hiding as Clark Kent. His alter ego is Clark Kent. His true identity is Superman. He is really an alien and he is living among us, blending in, hiding who he truly is. HE IS NOT FROM THIS PLANET!! Superman’s citizenship is on Krypton.

Thinking about this lead me this passage of scripture:

1 Peter 2:11-12.

11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.[i]

I am not a big fan of the DC universe. I like some of it and probably my favorite DC heroes are Wonder Woman and Superman. When I was a teenager, Lois and Clark was the main Superman franchise at the time. It was a TV drama on every Sunday night and I watched faithfully.

I never got into the movies really, or “Smallville,” a television show that is about Superman growing up. The series follows superman’s adolescent years as he is growing up. He is discovering his true purpose as he is discovering who he truly is. But there are some lessons about Superman that I believe we can apply to our lives as Christians.

Let me ask you…

Who are you?

Superman is an alien from Krypton. Even though he has grown up here on earth he still feels a sense of incompatibility.

Webster’s Collegiate 10th edition dictionary defines alien as, "...belonging or relating to another person, place or thing; otherworldly; differing in nature or character, typically to the point of incompatibility; a resident of another home, country or planet.”

Incompatibility: that word has had familiar meaning among Christians for centuries. In actuality, experiencing a feeling of "incompatibility" with this world is completely normal for Christians.

Christians are called by Jesus to be aliens in this world. We are redeemed, blood-bought, children of the living God and this automatically makes us different than the rest of the world In Philippians 3:20, Paul writes, But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We live in a country to which we do not belong.

We are part of Christ’s Kingdom-Not of this World.

We are simply passing through.

Superman grew up as Clark Kent in Smallville hiding who he truly was among the rest of the world. He was always very careful making sure his powers were never seen. He didn’t want anyone to see who he truly. He was an alien living among us just trying to fit in.

Hmm...I've seen this in the real world but friends, listen to me. Our true citizenship is with Jesus in Heaven! And because we are not part of this world, any conformity to it is wrong—straight up disobedience.

This is one area that I sadly say many Christians are just like Superman. Many of us are trying to fit in as well. But instead our lives should be different, set apart.

We come to church on Sunday and we feel at home and we get inspired to be a better Christian and then we’re ready for the week. Monday comes rolling around and we put on our worldly costume and we play that part of blending in very well.

We are very careful to never expose ourselves as we are in fear of being made fun of or being out-casted, shunned, separated, or seen as a Jesus Freak.

Scripture teaches us that we are to do the opposite. Romans 12:2a says, 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

"Do not be conformed to this world..." The word "conformed" here literally means to ("put on the form, fashion or appearance of"). Paul is essentially telling us not to look, act, dress, or even smell like the world.

Our lives should be a positive influence for those in the world not YET living with Christ.

It says to be "transformed, by the renewing of your mind." This means "making new"; changing to new thoughts, views and feelings. Christians are represented throughout Scripture as new creatures.

2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

This is who we are. We are aliens in this world and we need to stop hiding and stand up for who we are and for what we are about. We have never been promised that being a Christian would be easy, the truth is, it is hard and we will have many battles along the way. And we all have weaknesses that will keep us pressed down.

It’s not enough to just be different or to isolate ourselves from the world but we have to be intentional, on purpose, about living our faith out in front of others, shining His light into the Spiritual darkness around us.

Look for part two in a few days, "What Is Your Weakness?"