I just finished watching Kick A$$ 2 with a bunch of my deploying soldiers. Despite the vulgarity and gore, I found the movie just as enjoyable and inspiring as its predecessor.
The most inspiring feature of this superhero-genre movie is its ordinariness. There are no super powers to be found. In the first movie, the main character suffers nerve damage that greatly blunts his ability to feel pain. Watching the brokenness and crime around him, he decides to take his new found "power" and use it to help others. In both movies, he gets beat up quite a lot and deals with an array of moral dilemmas. Ultimately, he uses what little ability he has to drive to advance the cause of good just a bit more.
For all we know, there is no such thing as an extra-terrestrial. Nor is there a secret class of people out there equipped with superhuman powers. Rather, the incredible phenomena which sometimes appear in the world bear witness to an extraordinary God with supernatural power.
And this makes being ordinary a lot more acceptable--even enjoyable. I live in the powerful grace of God in Jesus Christ. Though I am ordinary, I can delight in serving Him and doing substantial things in His strength without desiring to be a superhero. At the essence of the character of the soldier is the willingness to use ordinary gifts and abilities in service of a much greater cause. At the essence of the character of the Christian, it is the God-given ability to live for another world while still living in this one.
I was talking with a number of soldiers late into the night last night. At one point, we stumbled upon that familiar cliche offered to many of us before we go: "Don't try to be a hero." Well, of course, nobody should recklessly throw their life away. But it is also immoral to be stingy with one's life. We agreed that if any of us saw a little child caught within a crossfire, we each would do what we could to save that child's life. It's not a matter of heroism; it is a measure of humanity. As Calvin rightly noted, it is a shame when one's obsession with life becomes greater than one's purpose in life.
I am a great sinner in service of a great God. My privilege and my pleasure is to live by God's grace in Christ Jesus for purposes greater than myself. I will never be animated with superhuman powers, but I serve a supernatural God. And that is enough. That will always be enough.
