Freaks On A Mission

Freaks On A Mission

[God] said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

THE X-MEN STARTED OUT AS A COMIC BOOK IN 1963. It’s become one of the bestselling comic book series of all time and led to a popular movie series.

In the series, there’s a “new evolution” happening in the world, and some humans are experiencing mutations. Not mutations like having twelve fingers but instead powers that allow the person to do amazing things.

The problem is that society views the mutants as different and scary, and so people shun and even persecute them.

Charles Xavier is a mistreated mutant, but he refuses to let bitterness overtake him. At one point another abused mutant friend of his says, “You know, Charles, I used to think it’s gonna be you and me against the world. But no matter how bad the world gets, you don’t wanna be against it, do you?” He doesn’t. In fact, he decides to become “Dr. X,” a force for good in the world. He invites another mutant, Erik Lensherr, to join him, saying, “You have a chance to become a part of something much bigger than yourself.” But Lensherr refuses and becomes the villain Magneto.

Soon Dr. X starts what is, allegedly, a school for gifted kids but is actually a refuge for mutants. Many of them have been hurt or disowned by their parents because they’re different, but at this safe haven they find love and healing. Dr. X also trains them to use their mutant abilities as weapons, to try to save the world from the evil that Magneto is seeking to unleash on it.

Fiction?

I’ll be honest with you: I’m not an X-Men movies kind of guy. I won’t tell you the kinds of movies I prefer,^a but I think the issue I have with superhero movies is that they seem so unrealistic. Still, there’s something oddly realistic about the X-Men.

Now, to buy my premise, you’re going to have to agree that we’re mutants. I don’t mean that there’s a new evolution happening or that you’re growing unusual body parts. I mean that we’re all strange in our own way. We have quirks, bad habits, hang-ups, and painful experiences that have left scars. We’re not quite right. We’re mutants.

In fact, it may be freeing for you to say it out loud. Try it, loud and proud: “I am a mutant.”^b

What makes you feel different or like you aren’t what you’re “supposed to be”? Maybe everyone around you is either getting married or is already married, but you’re still single or are divorced. Or perhaps others seem happy and have everything going for them, but you are struggling with an addiction or depression. Or it could be that you were abused as a child, and it’s left you feeling damaged. You feel like you’re not quite right. You’re a mutant. So am I.

What does the world do with mutants? As in the film, the world tends to shun and sometimes persecute those who are different or not good enough in some way. So like the mutants in the movie, we tend to live in fear and keep what makes us different a secret.

So what should we do? Where do we turn?

To the church.

God’s Way

God has always had a thing for choosing people who aren’t exactly perfect specimens with picture-perfect pasts.

God chose Joseph to save God’s people from famine, despite the fact that Joseph came from a family so dysfunctional that his brothers sold him into slavery.

He chose Gideon, a fear-driven wimp, to lead his army.

God chose Ruth to be one of Jesus’ ancestors, even though Ruth was childless, a widow, and a foreigner.

God chose Moses to represent him and be his spokesperson—an unexpected choice, since Moses had a serious stuttering problem.

Oh, and did I mention that Moses was a murderer? God even chooses people whose “mutations” are a result of their own sins and bad choices.

God chose Abraham to be the father of faith, even though Abraham had a serious problem with lying.

God chose to save Noah from the Flood. You might think, “Well, Noah must have been perfect.” Actually, after the Flood, Noah got drunk and passed out completely naked.

God chose Rahab for a starring role in the Bible. She was a prostitute.

He chose David, an adulterer, to be the leader of his people.

I could go on and on. God chooses messy people with problems. And that makes me feel really good, because this means God would choose me. And God created the church to be a safe haven for these mutants, to be a place of love for those who might seem a bit defective.

But not only is the church a place of acceptance, it’s also a training center for people who want to learn to use their abilities to become part of a team with the mission of saving the world. And here’s the crazy part: it’s not only your best skills and traits that can be used in that mission. God wants to redeem your “mutantness” and use it to love the world and draw people to him. We see God do this all through the Bible, and he wants to do it in you.

So how might God use your weakness as a strength in his love revolution?

Maybe you were divorced, but will find healing, and God will use you to minister to others going through a divorce.

Perhaps you’ve struggled with an addiction. But God has or is going to lead you through recovery and then hold you up to some of your friends as an example of how he can bring supernatural healing to a person’s life.

If you suffer with depression, God may take it away from you, but maybe he won’t. It could be that God won’t completely take it away, but he’ll still make you a different person. You will have an underlying joy that people can see, even with your depression, and people will notice that difference, and they’ll turn to God because of it.

God wants to use you as a superhero in saving the world. One of the cool things about X-Men that makes it unique from most superhero stories is that the X-Men are a team of superheroes.^c And that’s what the church is!

Each of us has our redeemed mutant qualities, and the Bible tells us that each of us also has special abilities (the Bible refers to them as “spiritual gifts”) to offer, like the ability to encourage people, teach, lead, or show mercy. They may be simple abilities, but when God empowers them, they become kind of superhero powers, and we become capable of doing things we could never do on our own, to help God in his mission of love. But we can’t do it alone, which is why God puts us on a team. God joins us together, and with his power we become a team that can truly turn the world upside down.

Now What?

• Read 1 Corinthians 12:1-31.
• Where do you currently serve in your church? If you’re not volunteering, start. God’s plan is for every follower of Jesus to play an important role in the church. If you are serving, do you feel like your volunteer position is a good fit for you? If not, maybe talk to a pastor in your church about finding a new role where you can make a bigger impact.
• God put you in this world not to live for yourself, but to live for him and to serve others. Ask God to make you the kind of person who can make the biggest impact for him that you can.