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Batman Is Jesus. Gotham is The Church.
Gotham is "New York below 14th Street, from SoHo to Greenwich Village, the Bowery, Little Italy, Chinatown, and the sinister areas around the base of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges" says William Safire of the New York Times. I took a weekend trip to New York years ago with some very close buddies and we spent a lot of time in upper Manhattan or the Harlem area, the places below 14th street. It was an amazing trip. The areas of Harlem and Manhattan are without a doubt consuming. The culture is so thick you suffocate to breathe, gladly. Carved structures on tops of builds tens of floors from the ground make the neck tired of craning upward. What I am saying to you is that New York is beautiful. Moreover, its a beauty that can never be fully captured. The feeling that is captured by a visitor overwhelmed like myself is that New York is a beauty that consumes you and that if you stay too long you would never leave, probably because you wouldn't be able to afford it. No one no matter how great, no matter how magnetic, and no matter how powerful, you can not "tame" New York. You are but a fly in a swarm, an ant in a city of ants.
New York is decadent. It is rich with luxury, splendor, and diversity. And so is the Church. Or at least we were created to be. God desires the Church to reflect His power. The Church, like New York in our minds, was intended to be a reflection of God's prominence through man. We are to be proud of the Church like an American is proud of New York City, simply because it reflects us. The Church is to reflect God or more specifically Jesus. This analogy can go even further with our very bodies, since we learn in the New Testament that our bodies are "little churches" (1Corinth 3:19-20). So think twice when ordering that cheeseburger. With all this said, something is not right with Gotham, its a sick place. A place that needs The Dark Knight. A place that needs a Savior.
The Fallen Nature.
"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)"
If you ever want to feel good about yourself then reading that verse everyday might not be the best idea. But it is true none the less. Gotham was a city created to display that very truth. It is a depraved place. The most gross and unimaginable things occur upon sunset there daily. Beauty is deplored by grime, filth, and destitution. What ever is meant to be decadent is marred by what man accomplishes at sunset in the darkness. And in the darkness the Dark Knight rises, to redeem nightly what is being destroyed by the hearts of man. By my heart. There are days when I feel pretty good about myself. I look in the mirror and see that I don't look so bad.I think about the number of people that like me and say, "hey, I'm doing pretty good!" But do I really believe that I have a "sunset" side? A place full of filth? A place that needs cleaning up to an extent that I can not physically achieve on my own? A place that needs a Savior? If you believe this then you understand the full analogy of Batman to Gotham. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)"
The Dark Savior
"...let light shine out of darkness...(2 Corinth 4:6)"
Some would say that we are in dark times. Many of my friends have seen recent political events and supreme court decisions as another example of the depraved decline of our Nation. Some of my friends see the response of the Church to sin in our Nation as also a sign of the depraved decline of our Church as well, at least the Church in America I suppose. When havoc reeks in Gotham fear follows and it becomes all too clear that there isn't a right or wrong guy in the fight to save Gotham, there is just Batman. The police system or the law fails due to corruption, negligence, and fear and we are left with only Batman. When havoc ensues we point fingers and make blame but really the only answer it Batman. He finds a way to do what the people and the law of Gotham can not do. He saves. Jesus saves. What is the response to sin? To sick darkness? To oppressive and depressive darkness? Or selves? Or Laws? No, it is Jesus. The law will fail us. We have seen this recently. We will fail us. I failed to keep most of the weight off I lost on a fast last week. Jesus Saves. This blog is not about or Nation, it is about Gotham, it is about the Church. The beauty that was intended in its creation and the power that can extend from it. The answer is Jesus. But it is Jesus through us or us through Jesus. Whatever, you know what I mean to say. We are the hands and feet of Jesus. "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinth 12:27)" Do you believe that you are the answer through Christ? That together are the answer through Christ? Does that sound weird to you? Should it?
Saved Once and Only Once
"Because he is the hero that Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now...". Bruce Wayne said these words in reference to Harvey Dent. Dent was a man of politics with a passion to help Gotham. He was no savior, just a man a part of Gotham. A part of the Church. Batman hoped for someone to rise up and lead the people apart from himself. He did not want to go on saving forever. I fully believe in my heart that Jesus also doesn't desire to go on saving us, forever. This is why He only did it once. Jesus died and rose once to save us all. We do not need another death and resurrection to empower us. He already did it and the power rests in our very bodies, forever. At the end of the Dark Knight Rises we see that Bruce Wayne has finished saving. Gotham is no longer in need of help because the people rose up to stop oppression apart from the law and apart from his help alone. The people believed in themselves. This can not be achieved without the LORD. He is the full picture of perfection of us, or fullest potential. Do you believe in yourself in Christ? Do you believe in the power of Christ working through you? Your local church? The Church across the world? The truth is like Bruce Wayne in the final scene of The Dark Knight Rises Jesus is also at rest. He is finished saving. He is rested at the right hand of the Father. Amen! Yet his presence is also in us. Ready for us to move through Him. To be the answer the world needs. How can you be the answer? Who needs to know about Jesus in your life? How can your church help? How can you help your church? How can you help the Church be the answer the world needs? Gotham was built to be beautiful.
I like writing stuff about current issues, movies, sports and culture with a theological twist. Follow me at @howardlee58 or @ibleedtitanblue on Twitter for more content.
"...let light shine out of darkness...(2 Corinth 4:6)"
Some would say that we are in dark times. Many of my friends have seen recent political events and supreme court decisions as another example of the depraved decline of our Nation. Some of my friends see the response of the Church to sin in our Nation as also a sign of the depraved decline of our Church as well, at least the Church in America I suppose. When havoc reeks in Gotham fear follows and it becomes all too clear that there isn't a right or wrong guy in the fight to save Gotham, there is just Batman. The police system or the law fails due to corruption, negligence, and fear and we are left with only Batman. When havoc ensues we point fingers and make blame but really the only answer it Batman. He finds a way to do what the people and the law of Gotham can not do. He saves. Jesus saves. What is the response to sin? To sick darkness? To oppressive and depressive darkness? Or selves? Or Laws? No, it is Jesus. The law will fail us. We have seen this recently. We will fail us. I failed to keep most of the weight off I lost on a fast last week. Jesus Saves. This blog is not about or Nation, it is about Gotham, it is about the Church. The beauty that was intended in its creation and the power that can extend from it. The answer is Jesus. But it is Jesus through us or us through Jesus. Whatever, you know what I mean to say. We are the hands and feet of Jesus. "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1 Corinth 12:27)" Do you believe that you are the answer through Christ? That together are the answer through Christ? Does that sound weird to you? Should it?
Saved Once and Only Once
"Because he is the hero that Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now...". Bruce Wayne said these words in reference to Harvey Dent. Dent was a man of politics with a passion to help Gotham. He was no savior, just a man a part of Gotham. A part of the Church. Batman hoped for someone to rise up and lead the people apart from himself. He did not want to go on saving forever. I fully believe in my heart that Jesus also doesn't desire to go on saving us, forever. This is why He only did it once. Jesus died and rose once to save us all. We do not need another death and resurrection to empower us. He already did it and the power rests in our very bodies, forever. At the end of the Dark Knight Rises we see that Bruce Wayne has finished saving. Gotham is no longer in need of help because the people rose up to stop oppression apart from the law and apart from his help alone. The people believed in themselves. This can not be achieved without the LORD. He is the full picture of perfection of us, or fullest potential. Do you believe in yourself in Christ? Do you believe in the power of Christ working through you? Your local church? The Church across the world? The truth is like Bruce Wayne in the final scene of The Dark Knight Rises Jesus is also at rest. He is finished saving. He is rested at the right hand of the Father. Amen! Yet his presence is also in us. Ready for us to move through Him. To be the answer the world needs. How can you be the answer? Who needs to know about Jesus in your life? How can your church help? How can you help your church? How can you help the Church be the answer the world needs? Gotham was built to be beautiful.
I like writing stuff about current issues, movies, sports and culture with a theological twist. Follow me at @howardlee58 or @ibleedtitanblue on Twitter for more content.
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