A Little Batman

Tomorrow we’ll get back to the book of James, but today I want to talk to talk a bit about Batman . . .

Throughout the book of James there has been a continuous theme of the need for our humility. We must realize how desperate for God we really are, which means understanding how little we can do without him. For leaders, it also means that we need to understand that we can’t be a one-man show, but that our goal must be to equip and empower others to do the work.

So what does this have to do with Batman: The Dark Night? Well, this Batman was different, as a continuing theme throughout the movie was that Batman was not the answer to stopping all the crime in Gotham City. Rather, the people had to emerge and step up to the plate themselves. But that transition has to work in two ways. First, Batman has to get out of the way. Secondly, the people have to step up and take responsibility. But how tough it is to get out of the way . . .

In our Christian lives, the temptation of leadership is to make everything revolve around us, so that we are the only ones who are empowered to do anything. Rather than people seeing a need and meeting it, they are simply trained to call the leader. I suppose part of the problem is tradition—you know, it goes all the way back to the priests being the only ones allowed to do ministry. We have never fully gotten over that. But a huge part of it is that often leaders need to feel needed. Too often we get our self-worth from the ministry that we do for others, rather than the sacrifice that Christ has made for us.

So, do you stand in the way of others doing ministry, or are you constantly walking alongside of others and encouraging them to get their hands dirty too?