As the new Superman movie takes flight this weekend, filmmakers are hoping the Man of Steel lands not only in theaters, but also in pulpits.
Warner Bros. Studios is aggressively marketing “Man of Steel” to Christian pastors, inviting them to early screenings, creating Father’s Day discussion guides and producing special film trailers that focus on the faith-friendly angles of the movie.
The movie studio even asked a theologian to provide sermon notes for pastors who want to preach about Superman on Sunday. Titled “Jesus: The Original Superhero,” the notes run nine pages.
Excuse me while I get all religious for a moment.
Look, I have to tell you, as a Christian who is very active in my church and who loves the Lord, I find this pretty offensive. I find it both offensive that Warner Bros. would push this marketing, and the Christians and Christian pastors would accept this.
Don’t take me the wrong way, I have no problem at all with the allegorical nature of the Superman story — I love it in fact. My issue here is that pastors should preach the word from the pulpit, not Superman. And to call Jesus “The Original Superhero” is basically blasphemous. Jesus is not a superhero, Jesus is God who took on the form of man so that he might redeem his people.
You know, it might even be okay for a pastor or elder to reference the allegory and allegorical nature of the Superman story from the pulpit, but to actually prepare a sermon based on this extra-biblical fantasy story is a bit much for me.
In an Instant Message chat with my podcast co-host Joe this morning, he said this:
It is one thing to raise the standard for our heros up — to compare them to Christ. It is another to bring Christ low to them — compare Christ to our highly flawed fictitious ideals.
Smart guy, that Joe.
Okay, sorry to get all religious on you, this pushed one of my buttons. I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.