A Batman Community--November 9, 2022

A Batman Community--November 9, 2022

"Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.  And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues." [1 Corinthians 12:27-28]

I've pretty much always been a Batman fan.  Even as a kid, even before the Caped Crusader was up on the silver screen in one gritty reboot after another, I've always thought Batman made for the most compelling superhero, even compared to the other big names like Superman, Wonder Woman, or the Flash.  Batman always captivated my attention, even though he's one of those rare comic book heroes who doesn't have any superpowers at all.  Or maybe, it's exactly because he doesn't have them.  Batman doesn't come from an alien planet or have super-speed, and he isn't from a mythical race of metahumans, either.  He's not a mutant, a demigod, or a cyborg.  He's a basically ordinary human being in a costume--a very cool-looking costume, with plenty of equally cool-looking gadgets, mind you, but still a human being, not terribly different from you or me in a lot of ways.

I mention my fascination with Batman on this particular occasion because I find it striking that the list of special roles and gifts Paul lists here in First Corinthians is also surprisingly... unremarkable.  The gifts and callings he mentions among the members of the "body of Christ" are, in large part, ordinary.  That is to say, they are not superpowers--they are very, very human.  In fact, the top three roles Paul mentions--apostles, prophets, and teachers--are basically jobs centered on talking.  The word "apostle" really just means "sent person," as in, "someone who is sent to bring a message."  Over time it came to be thought of as a title or formal office held by the original followers of Jesus who had witnessed his resurrection, but these were basically people who had been commissioned by the risen Christ to go and tell the story of Jesus.  Similarly, the role of "prophet" in the New Testament sense isn't so much about predicting the future as it is about speaking a message--whether it was preaching to a congregation, witnessing in public to share the Good News about Jesus, or speaking truth to power in the face of the Empire.  And pretty clearly "teachers" are also speakers--people who instruct and model for others a way of life shaped by the Gospel.  Those are all vitally important, as Paul tells it, but none of them require superpowers, magical rings or hammers, or radioactive spider bites.  The same with "forms of assistance" and "forms of leadership"--those don't arise from mutant powers, bolts of lightning, or inter-dimensional alien technology.  They look like servant-leadership, and a willingness to lend a hand or share resources.  They look like the capacity to inspire and challenge people, and to hold out a vision for people to step into.  Paul is right that they are all essential parts of the whole body we call "church," but they are surprisingly down-to-earth.  They are the Batman kind of roles, not Superman spectacle.  They might not dazzle, but they do deepen our discipleship. To be sure, Paul's list includes more miraculous-sounding things like "gifts of healing" or possibly "various kinds of tongues," but they aren't at the top of his rankings.  Paul envisions a community of disciples that doesn't have to put on a show or pull off a stunt to embody Christ in the world; rather, we are people who use ordinary things like words to shape a community in Christ's likeness.  

In a time like ours that is oversaturated with superhero storytelling, and that tends to assume that what really matters is power, money, status, and a large dose of armed force, Paul sees the church as a surprising alternative in the world--surprising in particular because we rely on such humble things as words to change the world.  Nowhere in Paul's letters do we find a call for Christians to push our agenda with force or weaponry.  Nowhere does the New Testament demand we need a certain amount of money or status to fulfill our mission.  And not once do the Scriptures insist that we mesmerize the world with supernatural feats.  Rather, we have been entrusted, from beginning to end, with the Gospel--with a message and a way of life that can be passed along, shared, and spread with the mere use of human language.  We tell the story of Jesus.  We speak the love that has captivated us.  We communicate, rather than dominate.  And yet the apostle Paul himself is convinced that these are precisely the tools we need for the work entrusted to us.

The Church is a Batman kind of community, it turns out--we do not need exotic alien origin stories or attention-getting powers, but the gifts that come with our own humanity.  Even mere words.

That means you, who are capable in some way of sharing the Good News with people around you, are equipped for the mission, too.  Speak it.  Tell it.  Write it.  Sing it.  Share it.  You don't have to go to Krypton or Asgard to get some magical power.  You've got the gifts already from God.

Lord God, open our eyes to see the gifts you have given us for your work right in our hands already, so that we can use our ordinariness for the sake of the world you so extraordinarily love.