Last week, the new Superman movie came out. It’s called “Man of Steel” and it stars Henry Cavill (who’s from England) as an alien super-powered messiah who helps Americans with an evil general who’s also not from Earth. By saving Americans, he saves the world. So far it makes good sense.

Now, I know who Superman is. I’m sure you do too. I also know that the last time there was a decent Superman movie at the picture show, Christopher Reeve was filling those tights. It’s been a downward spiral ever since.

This Man of Steel movie is doing big business…166 million smackers and still counting. People are lining up to see this “man” who is “super” save the world. He might be super, but he’s not a man. He just looks like one. He’s not human, he’s Kryptonian. So what we have here is a being who’s a man in appearance, but god-like in his abilities.

Here’s a picture from the film:

 

Notice how they play up the spiritual aspect of his character with the dramatic, heavenly light behind him. Wonderful. It’s pretty clear that this is an attempt to manipulate you into thinking of him as some kind of savior. But he’s not. He’s fictional. He’s not going to save you from anything. So don’t call out to Superman, he’s not going to hear you. He doesn’t have ears.

There has been a fair bit of chatter about how this “Man of Steel” movie is trying to make people think about Jesus. Now, I haven’t seen the movie yet, mainly because I have been spending long hours in our food bank kitchen trying this new recipe for Rock Soup that I found on the Internet. Supposedly if you do it right, it will feed an army. And with this economy, I’ve got an army to feed. I’ve never seen so many people out of work and hungry, except for maybe back during the Writer’s Strike of ’07-’08. They were better dressed than the ramshackle souls that loiter out in front of the church.

But back to business here. What these shrewd Hollywood Brainiacs are trying to do is supplant any belief in “Jesus is Lord” with the idea that Superman is the actual Jesus you need to believe in. Jesus is Jesus, Superman is Superman. Let’s take a look at Jesus for a minute:

 

I tried to find a photograph of Jesus, but I guess they don’t have any. Regardless, you can see now what they are trying to do, right? See? Jesus is backlit as well. In fact, in most depictions he has a glowing, heavenly light behind him too.

It should be pretty clear to you now. The “Man of Steel” is not JESUS. I could go on as I have studied Theology (I am only a dissertation away from my PhD) and I have been an avid comic collector my whole life. But I think I will save that for a conference paper proposal or nifty cocktail party conversation.

Regardless, I think we can all agree that Jesus is JESUS and Superman is SUPERMAN. Moving on.

This whole comparison and the subsequent conversation that has come out of it…just check out the movie review sites…is MOOT. What we are really seeing here is a strong desire in the modern faith seeker for a messiah that can kick some butt and look good in blue pajamas. And that’s why I’m here today. I know what ails you. I know that you want a god to believe in. I know you want a god that can fly faster than a speeding bullet, leap tall buildings in a single bound, crush evil with his fists, and present a modern hair style with a bit of swag.

What I am here to tell you today is that there is such a god to believe in…THE BIG RED J. He’s exactly what you are looking for…not JESUS…not SUPERMAN…but the best of both worlds. JOIN US and get involved in exciting adventures and fight evil villains.

Come down to the church today and I’ll set you up with a bowl of Rock Soup and I will share the GOOD NEWS with you. If you don’t have the time to spare, I suggest you pick up a copy of our sacred text, Leather to the Corinthians. All the answers you seek are there. Click on this link to order it: ORDER HERE.