Which got me thinking, occasionally curious person that I am. What it is about a bunch of dudes (and ladies) in tights, running around beating people up that makes us so excited? What keeps us coming back and draws us in?
Somehow I don't think it's Thor's flowing locks or the pure charisma of RDJ or Captain America's....existence.
I think what draws us in is the brokenness of these characters. Iron Man is narcissistic and deals with PTSD. Cap lives in a time he doesn't belong in and always has the regret of missing that dance. Thor has the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders and a brother that fights for his ruin. Hawkeye, well, I won't spoil the movie for you but he's got things holding him back. Black Widow runs with blood on her hands and is constantly searching for redemption. Hulk has a temper and worries he can never escape his isolation.
We attach to these characters because we see ourselves. Knowing you're not alone in whatever you're dealing with is one of the most important things in any struggle.
But it goes beyond that. If these were just screwed up characters, we would walk away with bleeding hearts, not zealous ones. We wouldn't be so happy with their victories if they didn't have any.
So what is it? Courage.
We see these characters bruised and battered, and they keep moving, keep saving the world. It makes us think that maybe we'll make it beyond whatever's holding us back.
So what's their secret? We see them move from tragedy to courage, but how do they do it? You may think it's their powers, but Stark's suit never saved his heart from fear. Cap's strength didn't keep him from loss. Hulk's greatest power is also his greatest weakness.
Courage doesn't come from being fearless. I've always heard it said that courage isn't the absence of fear, and that's true. The Avengers barely have a plan half the time, so I'm pretty sure they don't do this whole "saving the world" thing without at least a little apprehension. Avoiding spoilers, in the newest movie Stark's fear is what gets them into real trouble in the first place. Acting on fear, while not always bad, can be the very thing that makes your fears reality.
Courage doesn't come from being qualified. These guys were superheroes, yeah, but sometimes they were pretty lousy at being people. A majority of the conflict in the movies (props to Joss Whedon's writing) comes from the fact that these guys+Natasha are not much of a team. Bruce randomly turns into a green rage monster. Tony thinks the world revolves around himself. Steve is still discovering technology. Clint carries around a bow and arrow to defeat aliens with guns. Thor, well, he's not even properly human. If these guys don't have it all figured out, I certainly don't.
So, when it looks like the odds are stacked against them, why do they stay? Why do they keep fighting the bad guys when it's all they can do to stop fighting themselves?
Because the key to courage is fighting for something more important than yourself.
For the Avengers, the goal is saving the people. Whatever it takes, whatever it costs, save the people.
And you know, maybe we're not so far off. Sure, we don't save anyone; we can't even save ourselves. But for those of us who have had our hearts changed by Christ, we know the only One than can save them.
Not to be misunderstood, the greatest goal of followers of Christ is to bring glory to God, but redemptive history seems to point to saving people as one of His chosen ways to bring Himself glory.
If we'd only keep remembering that the people need saving.
It says in John 15 that the greatest love one can have is to lay down one's life for one's friends. Our friends need saving. Is it not worth laying down our lives to save the people?
I'm not just talking about dying, although many of our brothers and sisters are still paying that price. American Christians tend to gloss over this verse as being a good idea, but irrelevant.
Isn't laying down our lives laying down our schedules? Laying down our comfort? Laying down our lazy Christianity and picking up the Cross for the sake of saving the people?
I'm not saying I've got any of this grasped, but courage as I see it doesn't require perfection, but action in spite of fear.
This kind of courage, Christ-centered courage, thankfully never says we walk this alone. He walks with us, as well as giving us people to spur us on.
So maybe heroism isn't so far out of reach, not because we're so great at fighting battles, but because our Hero has already won the war for us. He's got this. He's got courage enough to share.
So I have hope that at the end of my life I can stand with my Hero and echo Jesus's words in John 17;
"I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do."
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