For the past month I’ve been living “up close and personal” with eleven other friends on this outreach through the Balkans.  Typically we’re together every waking moment in cars, hostels, outreach activities, and meals.  For all practical purposes the only time I’m not with the team is when I’m asleep or in the restroom!

The whole experience has been an exercise in sanctification as we’ve worked through the challenges of living together in “cramped community.”   And in these conditions I’ve been noticing how crucial a few words of encouragement can be to another person.  It’s so important, I believe, that it’s actually a form of spiritual warfare.

We humans often drift through our days to the devil’s dirge of accusation and inadequacy: “I’m not good enough.  I’m too fat, too skinny, too plain, too uneducated, too clumsy, too old to have what it takes.” But the voice of Jesus offers a different story: “You can do all things through Christ.”  (Phil 4:13); “You are the light of the world.” (Matt. 5:14)  “You are my beloved” (1 Cor. 15:58);  “You are more than a conqueror…” (Rom. 8:37)   and a thousand other encouraging words to the ones who are joined to Him.

I’ve gotten a bit hooked this trip on watching the faces of my friends light up by a few simple words of encouragement.  And I’ve become convinced that it’s neither a game nor just a good thing to do. Encouragement is a direct strike at the heart of the devil’s kingdom, taking out the lies that drag us down to the the grave.

“So then, encourage one another and build each other up, as you are doing.”
-1 Thess. 5:11

Not long ago I saw the movie Hancock, about a reluctant and ill-mannered superhero played by Will Smith.   It got me to thinking about why we love superheroes.   What’s the deal with the masked crusaders that captures our imagination and fuels a multi-billion dollar business?

I believe it’s the Kingdom DNA that God has programmed into every man, woman, and child created in His image.   Intended from the beginning to be masters of the earth unmatched by only God Himself, we’ve never lost the ancient memory.

Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth… And God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. (Gen. 1:26, 28)

Somewhere in our hear-of-hearts is the distant memory that we were intended to be thus, and when we see Superman saving the day our heart whispers “YES!  This is who I was created to be!”

Jesus, the God-man and prototype of all superheroes, after wresting the cosmos from the powers of darkness commissioned his disciples saying, “these signs will follow those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18)

That’s who we are.  We are born into the bloodline of those “supermen” who defended the weak, rescued the dying, “conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight.” (Heb. 11:33-34) It’s our inheritance in the Epic tale God is still writing: the Story of the Kingdom.

With such ancient DNA in our being is it any wonder we thrill at the exploits of the superheroes?

Sitting in my basement room at Mom’s house I’m not so inspired to dredge my heart for something “original.”  So I thought I’d pass on a couple of quotes from the book I’m reading, The End of Religion, by Bruxy Cavey.

“The problem with organized religion is not that it’s organized.  The problem with organized religion is that it is religious –  believing that its own set of rules, regulations, routines and rituals are the exclusive way to God.

If I am right , then the antidote to organized religion is not disorganized religion, but organized irreligion – a collective effort to use organization and structure to help encounter and experience the subversive spirituality of Jesus.  Cups can be useful to hold water as long as we remember it is the water that refreshes and not the cup.  Licking the cup leaves us unsatisfied.”

“Religion is the archrival of intimate spirituality… Religion, a tiresome system of manmade dos and don’ts, woulds and shoulds – impotent to change human lives, but tragically capable of devastating them – is what is left after a true love for God is drained away.  Religion is the shell that is left after the real thing has disappeared.”

-Doug Bannister