Discipleship Secrets of the X-Men (Part 1)

Unauthorized Reflections on Mutant Spirituality and Agapē Love

by

Mike Nappa

Sometimes I wish my pastor were a mutant.

Don’t get me wrong—the preacher at my church is genuinely a good man, a good friend, and a pretty darn good speaker to boot. (Ask him to tell you the story of the Christmas tree fiasco sometime and you’ll see what I’m talking about.) I wouldn’t trade my pastor for anybody.

Still, never once has he delivered a sermon on hell—and then burst into flame just to illustrate his point. I’ve never witnessed him get so excited preaching about heaven that he jumped up and started flying around the sanctuary. No long knives snikt out of his knuckles when he gets angry over sin. He can’t morph into the youth pastor when he’s telling a joke, or teleport around the church to let us know it’s time to start the service. He doesn’t open hymnals by telekinesis or even whip up a rainstorm in the pews when he talks about Noah and the great flood (though he does sometimes spit all over the people who sit too close to the pulpit).

In short, he’s no X-Man. And, well, much as I love the guy, I just think it’d be cool sometimes to hear a sermon from a superhero.

Ooh, wait a minute. You know what’d be even better? If I were the mutant!

After all, I’ve studied my share of theology (back when I was an undergraduate in Bible school), and I’ve preached a good many sermons myself over the years. I’ve even traveled all over the nation to speak at churches and Christian gatherings. Imagine how the crowds would pack in to hear me speak if they knew I’d be creating ice sculptures with my bare hands or exerting my magnetic power over all the coins in the offering plates to make it literally rain pennies from heaven.

And imagine how deeply you’d remember the truth of Scripture if it’d been presented to you in this way. How it might shake you out of a complacent routine of ordinary faith. How you might begin to think long and hard about what it means to live a lifestyle of “mutant spirituality”—a daily exploration of surprising, life-changing, eternity-influencing love for God, for others, and for yourself.

It’s probably a stretch to call him a mutant, but Jesus Christ is the only person in history who was ever able to truly live out that kind of mutant spirituality. In him was a dangerous love that turned the world on its ear, the love that was so radically different from norms of humanity that it changed the way everyone has lived since. The Greek word for the kind of love that Jesus lived is “agapē” (pronounced “Uh-GAH-pay”).  It’s this abnormal, unsafe, supernatural love that has fascinated me of late, and which has prompted me to meditate more and more on the Apostle Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a (NIV). Listen to the way Paul described it:

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.      

I’ll be honest with you now, dear reader (for I feel we are becoming friends). When I read this description of what real love is like, it feels as alien to me as, well, as a mutant who can shoot ice from his fingers. This kind of spiritual life goes against my every instinct, my daily habits, my selfish, self-absorbed lifestyle. Some theologians think that when Paul listed the surpassing qualities of love in 1 Corinthians 13 that he was actually describing the personality of Jesus Christ himself. [1] While it’s hard to confirm that hypothesis, it certainly seems appropriate for the Son of God—and gives an exciting glimpse of the way Jesus acts out his love for each one of us.

And it really depresses me, because I know that in my own strength I can never live up to this kind of sensational, abnormal, dangerous/life-saving love. In fact, if Paul had been writing 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 based on my example, he probably would have said:

Love doesn’t have time for patience (hey, time is money!), love is only sometimes kind.

It often envies others who, you know, write New York Times bestsellers or get invited to speak on cruises off the coast of Florida.

Love must boast or else no will pay attention (duh!), and it is of course proud of what it has done.

Love knows that rudeness, self-seeking attitudes, a little righteous anger, and a long list of grievances are often the only way to get things done in this world.

Love, of course, does not delight in evil, but sometimes feels it necessary to hide the truth when that truth is inconvenient.

Love sometimes protects, occasionally trusts (with verification), hopes every once in awhile, and perseveres as long as, you know, the situation doesn’t get too uncomfortable.

In short, love never…, well, love only occasionally…OK, love often lets you down, but hey, that’s life, right?

Ah me. If only I were an X-Man with a super power of love! But I’m not, and when thoughts like this leave me feeling depressed about my own shortcomings in the Christian life, I have a two-part remedy:

1) Praying.

2) Watching a good movie to take my mind of things for a while. J

It was when I was recently engaged in this little remedy that the idea for this article series was born. You see, I had been praying for God’s Holy Spirit to make a difference in my self-centered, self-defeating lifestyle of so-called faith. (I learned long ago that when I need help, I have to go to the place where help is available—and who else can help me be like Christ except for his own Holy Spirit?)

And then, after praying, I wandered into the TV room at my house and slapped on a DVD of one of my favorite films, The X-Men. Within a few moments I was lost in the wonderful adventures of my favorite mutants and the world that so often opposes them.

At one point early the show, I heard myself think, “Wow, that’s a great example of how love is patient.” But (since, well, I’m not the brightest bulb in the pack), the thought quickly vanished. A little later, the words, “Love is kind” echoed inside me as I watched an act of kindness portrayed on the screen. Then, still later, Paul’s phrase came to mind, “Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth,” and suddenly I was paying attention.

You see, even though The X-Men (and its sequels, X2 and X3) are not religious movies at all, even though the creators, actors, and producers of the X-Men franchise never intended for their films to be spiritually instructive, and even though these films are all just imaginative fiction, I discovered something important. God used the X-Men to show me something new, something meaningful about living a lifestyle of Christ-like love.

Isn’t that silly? Yeah.

Isn’t it also wonderful that God would listen to my pathetic prayers for help to be more like him, and then—with his own matchless sense of humor and purpose—that he would take a mainstream movie franchise and use it as a vehicle of grace for my soul? In strangely unique ways, Paul’s teachings elsewhere in 1 Corinthians proved true in my life:

“His Spirit searches out EVERYTHING and shows us even God’s deep secrets” (1 Corinthians 2:10b, NLT) (emphasis mine)

“God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise” (1 Corinthians 1:27a, NLT) (Note: In this context, “those who think they are wise” would refer to yours truly!)

Which brings me back to where we started. Yeah, I think it would be extremely cool if my pastor were a mutant, and if he could teach me all about agapē  love with fantastical displays of mutant power. And I still think it would be fun if I had some kind of X-Men power myself, and could use it to teach others about living a lifestyle of Christ-like love. But, let’s be honest, neither of those things are going to happen anytime soon. However, God--in an act of wonderful, absurd grace--has given me a set of action/thriller/superhero movies that repeatedly illustrate his expressions of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.

So what’s a non-mutant like me to do? I guess only one thing. Dive into the experience head-first, shining an “X-Men”-style flashlight into the pages of Scripture, hoping that it might “mutate” me just a little bit more into the loving image of Christ—and cause the light of God’s agapē love to shine daily out of my life.

Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?

Friend, I’d like to invite you now to be my honored guest in this exploration of mutant spirituality and agapē love. If you want to join me, then just tune in to the next issue of FamilyFans.com and let’s get started. With God’s Holy Spirit involved, who knows what strange and wonderful things we’ll discover?

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PS. Thanks for coming along!

PPS. I’m excited!

PPPS. Want to borrow my Cyclops goggles?  

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To Read Part 2 of This Article Series, Click Here

DISCLAIMER: This FamilyFans.com article is a critical commentary on religious themes found in the X-Men movies. FamilyFans.com and this article are not associated with, nor have they been approved, endorsed, or licensed by, Marvel Comics, 20^th Century Fox, or any entity or persons involved in the creation, production, or licensing of the X-Men films, books, or products.