When I was young(er) there was an animated TV series about a superhero called ‘Captain Planet’. I personally think he was the dumbest superhero ever invented. Lately I have come to realize that much of the church world sees God in a very similar way to Captain Planet. I call this distorted view of God, “The Captain Planet Syndrome.”

To start explaining this, I might need to give you bit of info about Captain Planet. He is a superhero whose main goal is to eradicate pollution on earth and there are 5 teenagers who need to combine their power-rings to summon Captain Planet. The reason why he is the dumbest superhero ever is because his only weakness is POLLUTION! The one thing that he is purposed to destroy is the very thing that makes him powerless. How dumb is that?! In every episode Captain Planet would be summoned to help fight pollution, but will inevitably get in contact with some pollution and instantly he loses all his powers and abilities. Then it’s up the teenagers to save Captain Planet and clean him up so he can regain his power and save the day.

Now when it comes to the Captain Planet Syndrome many believers walk around with, they view God in much the same way. They see God as having the ability to destroy sin, forgive them and save them, but they also see sin as the one thing that stops God from working. How often do you hear something like this from the pulpit: “God can’t do anything for you until you stop sinning.” Or “If you want God to work in your life, you must get rid of your sin first because that stops His power from working.” Then they imply a lot of human effort to essentially SAVE GOD FROM YOUR SINS so He is no longer powerless to help you. You have to work hard to remove all traces of sin otherwise God can’t do anything. Yeah, right!

Sin is not God’s kryptonite. He is not powerless against it. It is not the one thing that can defeat Him! Your sin does not stop His power from working. Your sin is not stronger than God. Your sin does not separate you. Your sin is defeated. Your sin is forgiven. Do not make God out to be as pathetic as Captain Planet. His power is limitless, His love eternal, His life indestructible and His family is the focus of His being! He is also not summoned or conjured up by human effort, He is the always abiding, living and indwelling Eternal Spirit, fully able to keep you, save and love you!

Now that is a superhero! Where sin abounds, GRACE ABOUNDS MUCH MORE!

Cornel