![\"\"](\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/web_of_spider-man_vol_1_129-1.png?w=210\")
The question about Spider-Man came up while I was sitting on a panel for a \u201cPastors Pondering\u201d session \u2014 a small-group gathering in which youth can confidentially write their most burning queries about faith and (hopefully) receive an answer from a pastor. (Though I am neither Lutheran nor a pastor, the camp had graciously invited me to participate anyway.)<\/p>\n
Much to my surprise and delight, the seventh grader\u2019s rather cheeky query inspired one of the most profound conversations about Christian theology that I\u2019ve ever been a part of.<\/p>\n
So why, exactly, is Jesus cooler than Spider-Man? Here\u2019s what we came up with:<\/p>\n
Jesus is there for us all the time, not just during an emergency<\/strong><\/p>\n Spider-Man swoops into people\u2019s lives to stop the villains when a situation reaches a crisis point; then he swoops right back out again, leaving those he rescued staring off into the distance where he disappeared. But Jesus never leaves us. Our lives don\u2019t have to be threatened for him to care about us, and \u2014 though we may experience moments of awe and marvel at his greatness \u2014 we never have to stare off into the distance wondering when or if we\u2019ll ever see him again.<\/p>\n Jesus lives in community, while Spider-Man is a loner<\/strong><\/p>\n Peter Parker must lead a dual-life, hiding his most authentic identity from those to whom he is closest. But the Jesus of the Gospels is surrounded by people who know who he is and what he does \u2026 and who truly love him. Jesus does not build credible alibis; he builds deep and mutually-loving relationships. He inspires his community, teaches them, and empowers them to continue his work. I\u2019d much rather be friends with that<\/em> guy.<\/p>\n Jesus doesn\u2019t need to use violence to defeat the bad guys<\/strong><\/p>\n The death and destruction Spider-Man leaves in his wake sometimes cause people to wonder if having a neighborhood superhero is even worth it. But Jesus doesn\u2019t have to maim, kill, or destroy to win. Whether he is confounding the Pharisees to rescue a woman about to be stoned to death (John 8:1-11<\/a>) or mysteriously passing through an angry crowd intent on killing him (Luke 4:28-30<\/a>), Jesus manages to undermine the evil intentions of villains without ever physically hurting them. And although Jesus\u2019 famous instruction to \u201cturn the other cheek\u201d is sometimes mistaken for passive surrender, it is actually one of many acutely subversive acts of resistance to injustice that he demonstrates in his life. (For more about Jesus\u2019 nonviolent subversion, I highly recommend \u201cThe Irresistible Revolution\u201d<\/a> by Shane Claiborne and \u201cJesus and Nonviolence: A Third Way\u201d<\/a> by Walter Wink.)<\/p>\n But the point is: unlike Spider-Man, Jesus fights \u2014 and wins! \u2014 the good fight without ever harming his enemies or creating collateral damage. To a peace studies major like me, there\u2019s just nothing cooler than that.<\/p>\n Jesus is a savior, not a superhero<\/strong><\/p>\n Spider-Man always wins the day. He uses his super-human abilities to vanquish villains and receives public adulation in return. He defeats the bad guys and re-establishes proper order. Jesus, on the other hand, loses \u2026 badly. He ends up disdained and condemned by his own people, abandoned and betrayed by his best friends. He begs God to spare him, but still succumbs to an agonizing, unglamorous death. Yet somehow, in doing so, he defeats death itself and upends the proper order of things forever. Jesus\u2019 story is not heroic \u2026 but it is salvific.<\/p>\n Jesus loves the bad guys just as much as the good guys<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know about you, but I often wonder whether I would be the hero or the villain in many scenes in my life story. My autobiography is tainted by moments of cowardice, hubris, and even outright maliciousness. In short, I\u2019m a sinner. Given the right circumstances, I have no doubt that I would find myself on the wrong side of Spider-Man\u2019s relentless quest for justice. But Jesus\u2019 quest for justice is rooted in radical grace, so that even the rich man who cannot part with his possessions is loved (Mark 10:17-22<\/a>); and even the fraudulent tax-collector is invited to dinner (Luke 19:1-10<\/a>); and even the soldiers who nail Jesus to the cross are forgiven (Luke 23:33-34<\/a>). It may not be a Hollywood ending, but it\u2019s beyond Good News for me.<\/p>\n Basically, it boils down to this: Jesus is cooler than Spider-Man because Jesus is God, and he chose to die for us \u2014 all of us \u2014 anyway. Spider-Man just can\u2019t come close to that.<\/p>\n . . . Nonetheless, at the end of our Pastors Pondering, we did have to admit one thing: Spider-Man has much<\/em> cooler clothes than Jesus.<\/p>\n About the<\/strong><\/em> Rabble Rouser<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhy is Jesus cooler than Spider-Man?\u201d asked a seventh grader. His question wasn\u2019t completely out of the blue. He, along with dozens of us spending the week at\u00a0 Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp in northern Montana, had recently learned a new way to proclaim God\u2019s glory: \u201cJesus is cooler than Spider-Man, KSHHHH*, Spider-Man, KSHHHH*, Spider-Man!\u201d \u00a0*Denotes...","protected":false},"author":51099403,"featured_media":7427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[698755598,698755602],"tags":[911639,214,698755374,401,7816,45533488,18215,8329,2606,3785,106103,34941365,2005476,71747,81246,3981],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-7426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-family-life","category-peacemakingandnonviolence","tag-bible-camp","tag-christianity","tag-community","tag-faith","tag-god","tag-gospel-peacemaking","tag-grace","tag-jesus","tag-justice","tag-love","tag-nonviolence","tag-relationship-2","tag-salvific","tag-spider-man","tag-super-heroes","tag-theology","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/web_of_spider-man_vol_1_129-1.png","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"![\"Nicole-Steele-Woodridge-with-daughters\"](\"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/dsc9504.jpg?w=107\")
Nicole Steele Wooldridge<\/strong><\/a> is a friend of Sister Julia\u2019s who writes from the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her Lutheran pastor husband<\/a> and their two daughters. She is grateful to Pastor Dan, Pastor Tanner, and her husband for being part of the amazing Pastors Pondering that inspired this post. She also apologizes to any die-hard Spider-Man fans for any character errors; she admits that she actually knows very little about Spider-Man.<\/em><\/p>\nJesus is way cooler than Spider-Man!<\/a><\/blockquote>