'The Watchers: All Eyes Are On Him'

I love superheroes. I always have. After watching the old ‘60s Batman series on reruns with my folks, I was hooked. Superheroes are just incredibly awesome. They can do things I cannot, like fly. Superheroes are everywhere—from movies, to books, to our soft drink cans, to the Bible. No, really, the Bible.

There are all kinds of superpowers in the Bible. Here is a far-from-exhaustive list:

Magneto is a villain with the ability to control metal objects. But the prophet Elisha did it first. (2 Kings 6)
Superman’s super strength has nothing on Samson (Judges 14 – 16).
Wolverine’s amazing healing powers? Paul was bit by a snake and just shook it off into the fire (Acts 28).
Peter was, in effect, invisible during a prison break (Acts 12).
The Flash and his super speed? Well, Elisha outran war horses (2 Kings 5).
Pyro and his ability to control fire? Elijah got it first (1 Kings 18).

Many superheroes have some the ability of precognition (seeing the future). But they stole that from the major and minor prophets.

Jonah was indigestible (Jonah 2).
Storm has nothing on Jesus (Luke 8)—in more ways than one.
Tarzan wasn’t the first to be able to speak with animals, but in one case, the animal spoke back (Numbers 22).
Elijah and many other prophets were given the ability to raise one person from the dead, but Ezekiel raised a whole army (Ezekiel 37).

So, if God gave those prophets and followers awesome superpowers, why doesn’t he give his followers superpowers now? Well, the good news is, he does. They’re called “Spiritual Gifts” and can range from compassion for those less fortunate to being able to raise the dead. The gifts he gives every single person who believes, though, are the superpowers of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5).

Many people have accused my crossover superhero series (Karis, Flash) of being rote, predictable and nothing more than un-glorified fan fiction with a religious twist. To them I say: It is the comic books from which I—I will freely admit—borrowed concepts that are the fanfic. And God gave real people real superpowers. We need more Christian superheroes, so I wrote some. Not only do my new Christian superheroes in Flash have awesome super powers and help Tamara kick some butt but also help her recognize God’s will for her life—and helping others find God’s will for their lives is something of a superpower itself, and one we can all have.

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Rikki Strong has always been enamored with superheroes, and started writing the My Life as a Superhero series (currently Karis and Flash) when she was a sophomore in high school. She began writing for fun and profit in 2006 and has since written or ghostwritten more than 10 books and over 50 web articles. When not writing—which is most of the time—she is a stay-at-home wife and mom to a very active 6-year-old boy who has already about 500 words and 25 chapters into writing his own book.