Lately, I have been watching the TV series "Heroes." Every episode fills me with trepidation because I'm sure that it is like "Lost" and they will kill off main people. So far, nobody has died that I liked. Anyway, I have been doing a lot of thinking about this show and what it all means. That's just the way I am. I have to analyze everything and find out what it means for me. So here is my deep theological reflections on "Heroes."
"Heroes" is about people with unusual talents. For example: Super fast healing, the ability to move through time and space, invisibility, and telekinesis. For many of these people their gifts are just starting to appear and they are trying to figure out how to use them. Most of them feel like they are alone. Fear of being an outsider keeps them from telling others about their gifts. There is a sense of shame like they are some sort of freak. One reason to stay quiet is that there seems to be a secret agency hunting down the "special" people. It is unclear what their motives are.
Hiro Nakamura is a Japanese office worker that discovers he can move through time and space. After seeing a great tragedy in the futures he realizes that he must do something to stop this event from happening. No matter what happens he recklessly pursues his destiny. He makes mistakes along the way, so much so that he has moments of doubt about his mission. He struggles with whether he is on the right path. But something always comes along to pick his spirits up and get him back in the game.
Everyone of us on earth is gifted in some way. Somebody might be a master chef while another person is good at listening and counseling. As Christian we have an added gift, well two I guess. First we have grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 specifically tells us this. Grace has been given to us as gift. Because of that gift we understand love to a greater degree and we can speak that love into other peoples lives.
Our other gift is a spiritual gift. This part is a little more difficult to figure out. Acts 1:8 says that we will be given power when the Holy Spirit comes on us. John 14:12 says that we will do even greater works than Christ, who is the ultimate superhero. Many people struggle with the idea of spiritual gifts and what their individual gift is.
I said above that the people in "Heroes" feel like freaks. Don't we sometimes feel that way as Christians. We feel alone, like we are are the only ones like that. It is easy to get discouraged and hang up the towel. but just like Hiro we each have a part to play. Whether we realize it or not we do have a part to play. Jeremiah says "for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future."
So many times I have questioned what the point of all my struggling is. What does my life amount to? Do I really have a purpose? Am I carrying out the Great Commission? Right now I am unemployed and I have been this way for a while and over and over I have been trying to figure out what the purpose of all of this is. Why is it that the jobs that I think should be simple to get I can get? How am I going to provide for my family? But then I remember that Jeremiah verse and all of the other promises that the Bible is full of and I know that God is in control. I am just a player in the game. I don't see the big picture where he does. None of us can see the big picture. What we must simply do is live our lives using the talents and abilities that God has given us.
In the words of Jesus Christ we must pray "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done." I need to take my focus off of me and put it on Christ. Everything else will follow from that.
I pray that this blog serve as an encouragement to you just as Ando encourages Hiro. Go forth, and live life. Dare to dream and pursue those dreams with reckless abandon. Live dangerously for Christ.
i like the simile you used between christianity and the show heroes. ive never watched heroes but i just might now to see the connection first hand. but the alone freak connectoin is very interesting and true. hey give me a call some time jax i have come across a biz that you might be interested in doing. hang tough love b
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