On Peter Parker and the Bathroom

I have the sweetest bathroom in the whole world. Yep, not too many people can make that claim. I have this pretty awesome Spider-Man theme going, complete with a shower curtain, a large static-cling figure, a toothbrush cup, and even a miniature bubble gum machine—that’s right, in my bathroom. So every morning when I wake up, I go into the bathroom and there’s Spidey. Pretty awesome, huh? It always makes me feel safe when I’m in the shower.

So I was thinking about Spider-Man today (because of my bathroom and because I saw this cute little kid with an awesome Spider-Man costume last night for Halloween). I don’t want to start a discussion of the quality of the movies, but my favorite one of all of them still has to be the first one. One of my favorite scenes occurs when Uncle Ben drops Peter Parker off at the library and tells Peter that he is concerned about his actions lately. Uncle Ben then gives Peter a very sound piece of advice, “With great power comes great responsibility.” It takes Peter awhile to fully understand that message, but eventually Spider-Man emerges as the great hero who uses his abilities to help save New York from all kinds of bad guys and evil creatures.

I love that line, though, and I always flash back to that scene when I think of Spider-Man. “With great power comes great responsibility.” I believe that biblically speaking, we are given the same charge. Paul describes this in Galatians 5. He states that through Christ we are given access to spiritual freedom. We don’t have to worry about the consequences of our evil nature anymore. However, with such great freedom comes an easy excuse to sin. Sure, why not sin even more since God’s going to forgive us, right? We’ve been freed from the law, too, so all these rules and regulations shouldn’t apply to us anymore, and we can do whatever we want, right? I don’t think so. In Galatians 5: 13, Paul says this: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” With great power comes great responsibility. With great freedom comes great responsibility, too. After all, isn’t that what Christ did for us? He had all that power and glory up in heaven, but used it to save us from sin. What great love.

What if Spider-Man had never used his power to help New York? The city would have succumbed to the Green Goblin, Sandman, or Venom. The world would be a worse place because of his laziness. What if Jesus had never used his power to save the world? We would have succumbed to our sinful nature, depravity, and separation from God. The world would be a much worse place because of his laziness. What if we never use our freedom to help those in need? The people around us could succumb to hopelessness, poverty, and starvation. The world would be a much worse place because of our laziness.

So, every morning when I look at my face in the mirror next to the Spider-Man static-cling, I’m reminded of how I need to spend my days. With great power comes great responsibility. With great freedom comes great responsibility.

Go get ‘em, Tiger.