The twentieth-century warfare/welfare order owes much to Nietzsche, the man who first described The State as “God walking through history.” Nietzsche was also famous for his concept of the “superman,” the amoral self-directed entity existing Beyond Good and Evil as it pursues an unrelenting “will to power.” The phrase “Aryan supermen” still reeks with memories of death camps and incinerators.
Yet the “superman” concept, the epitome, the exemplar, is a key to understanding any culture. I would suggest that this is also a place to begin thinking about appropriate means for transforming a nation that seems bent on a suicidal death spiral.
In 1933 two 17-year-old friends, artist Joe Shuster and writer Jerry Siegal, created a pop culture icon. Inspired by the story of Moses, they invented the original comic book super hero – wondrously saved from certain death as an infant, then appearing from obscurity to wield extraordinary powers and defeat evildoers … you know the story. (Joe drew the art work on a breadboard, except for Thursdays, when his wife kneaded the Sabbath challah!) A later industry giant, Stanley Lieber, is better known by his trade name Stan Lee. Stan has a picture in his home of Ben Grimm dressed in full Chassidic regalia. Stan Lee’s “Amazing Spiderman” can be seen in two super hero chick flicks, if you want a benign way to relax for a few hours.
Every adolescent boy dreams of being bigger and better than he is. Behind this universal longing, however, the comic book super hero also demonstrates the traditional Jewish messiah concept: big, brawny, righteous. Supernatural in ability, victorious in strife, defender of the weak, confounder of powerful evil.
Still, the Jewish people can’t monopolize the messiah market forever! For a thought-provoking mediation on the Hindu messiah model (personified transcendent intervention into human affairs), see M. Night Shyamalan’s film Unbreakable. Shyamalan’s American roots show in the movie’s feel for gritty blue-collar Philadelphia. Unbreakable examines the super hero motif on several levels, and ends up with a counterpoising evil avatar, who deviates as far from the norm as the Bruce Willis protagonist, but in the opposite direction. The Hindu godhead can’t do without Shiva, destroyer of worlds, who “gives balance to the force.” Not an ultimately hopeful perspective, here!
The Gospel According to Superman, published in 1973, made one memorable point. Throughout the decades of his storied life, Superman responded promptly to the urgent summons of his friends. And his associates have remained the same. No evidence of personal growth. No maturing, ripening, developing of character. As any person of faith will tell you, it’s those times when our “signal watch” does not bring the expected deliverance that we grow up. And it is “Great Society” welfare programs, apparently modeled on the Bureau of Indian Affairs, that reduce targeted populations to impotence.
Meanwhile, there’s my Messiah, if you can Handel a reticent savior. Consider the contrasting components of the mission statement Jesus received: “Thou art my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” The term “Beloved Son,” from Psalm 110, speaks of a triumphant King. The expression “in whom I am well pleased,” from Isaiah 42, speaks of a suffering servant. Majesty in mufti. Power in plainclothes. The messianic kingdom Jesus proclaimed seems to resemble the status quo ante in place before the coronation of Saul, when God Himself was the King, and His people could loaf for one year out of every seven. The sabbatical years ended when Saul took office; the increased burden of taxation supplanted those seasons of rest for man and soil. However, our King can lead us back towards non-statist ways of organizing our lives.
Life with a reticent Savior is profoundly interesting. We walk by faith and not by sight. Our Lord does not issue impersonal directives from a distant throne in Jerusalem. Rather, He sits demurely off-stage at the right hand of power in heaven, and reigns in our hearts. We share a regular fellowship meal with Him. We read how He handled situations when personally on the scene, and when acting through His agents. We gradually see the program, we get with the program, we pour our energies into our assigned duty stations, and we expect to be surprised. Since we are not God, 75% of our efforts might go to waste (fall by the wayside, etc.). Since He is God, we expect 30-fold, 60-fold, and 100-fold returns on the projects that do pan out. But we do not know ahead of time what the future holds. Which misfires will break our hearts. Which off-the-cuff responses will bring inconceivable blessings.
Life with a reticent Savior is purposeful, passionate, and adventurous. Knowing that our God wants our lives to succeed gives zest to our risk-taking and our labors. Being in on what God is up to is the ultimate “piece of the action.” Prayer is an adventure, since every request can reveal new plot twists in the stories of our lives. Having omniscience at work on the other end of the “request line” guarantees surprises.
Contrast this to the experiences of non-Christians who attempt to manipulate reality through witchcraft, psychic powers, or contractual agreement with some human or inhuman entity offering “three wishes.” As valued mentor Gary North said,
While covenant breakers sometimes invoke incantations or other formulaic appeals to the occult supernatural realm, their requests suffer from these major defects: their own covenant-breaking status, the implacable hostility of their wish-providing sources, their own lack of omniscience, and the lack of omniscience of their wish-providing sources. (Treasure and Dominion: an economic commentary on Luke, Ch. 21, by Gary North)
Even more pathetic are the miracle-working claims of those politicians who would incarnate the divine State for us. Hence, their hostility to “right-wing fundamentalists.” Those of us who already have a savior are not in the market for another. The notion of limited government sprang from Christian theology, and was applied in the 17th century very forcibly against the necks of English kings who overreached themselves. Men who bow before their Creator are notoriously unwilling to grovel before fellow creatures.
In conclusion: one messiah model reduces humanity by promising total care, cradle to grave. The result is slavery at best, genocides at worst. The other model expects more of us individually, and encourages us to make the most of our lives. The results include risk, wealth, liberty. Personal growth. Integrity. Responsiblity. And a life suitable for a free man who refuses to be an infantilized subject.
October 18, 2004
