One of the messages I am constantly trying to share with people is that they are fab. I have never met a person who was ‘lame’, although I have met some people who would call themselves that.
God never calls anyone lame. In the bible, Jesus goes out of his way to make people feel seen and loved, especially those who society tended to ignore. In different parts of the bible, we are called many things – loved, chosen, adopted, brave, precious, treasured, unique… the list goes on. But ‘lame’ is not on the list (nor is any similar label).
I also like to find current cultural references to help with these kinds of messages. So imagine my delight when Marvel delivered in Spiderman: No Way Home. Fair warning, some spoilers ahead. Most of the secrets have been leaked (and the film did come out about 4 months ago), but if you haven’t seen it, maybe don’t read the rest of this post if you want to avoid any spoilers.
A lot of the time, when we label ourselves negatively it is because of comparison, either consciously or unconsciously. Yes, there are other reasons for negative labels (some explored in previous posts), but comparison is a big one. And that’s another thing that never comes up in the bible. Or at least, not from God. He doesn’t call his children lame, and he doesn’t compare them to each other. We are each unique, comparison isn’t valid in that way.
So, Spiderman… In the film, we end up with three Spidermen working together. In a brief lull before the big fight, they start comparing stories with each other. Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman fought an alien made out of black goo. Tom Holland’s Spiderman fought an alien on earth and in space (and he was purple). Andrew Garfield’s Spiderman…. in his own words, “I’m lame, compared to you, I fought a Russian guy in a rhino suit.”
The instant he says that, TM’s face scowls and he jumps in with “You are not lame”. He quite passionately debunks the self talk and replaces it with “You are amazing, just take it in for a minute” and gets AG to repeat that, or tries to at least. Its a great scene where even a mighty hero finds self doubt by comparing himself to others. And when a different hero tries to combat that inner enemy.
How often do we compare what we’ve done with what others have done and come up short? How often do we look at what others offer and think we don’t offer as much? How often do we let that little voice of doubt hold us back or keep us down?
Now, I’m aware we don’t have friends who are Spiderman, but at that point it is Peter Parker talking. And we all need at least one (if not more) of those type people in our lives. The ones who will pick us up on the negative self talk and make us hear the positive. And, if its your belief, to remind us what God says about us (Hint: he doesn’t say your lame!)
God made people to be in relationship with one another. In Genesis, after making Adam, God says, “it isn’t good for man to be alone.” We are meant to live life with each other. But we are not meant to compare ourselves. We are meant to build each other up, we are allowed to stick up for each other even if we are speaking against the inner negative voices. Because, speaking from experience, sometimes we need an external voice to cut through the internal dialogue. And that is part of living in relationship, which was God’s plan all along.
So maybe the next time you have an inner voice saying your lame (or similar), picture a friendly neighbourhood Spiderman (or a very good friend) sitting next to you saying, “You are not lame. You are amazing.” Because it’s true. You may not always believe it, but God thinks you’re a precious child. He knows us all intimately, and he never compares us.
You are amazing, just take that in for a minute.
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