Sometimes, villains make themselves known from the get-go, but sometimes the bad guys make you believe they care. Sometimes, the bad guys are tricky and deceiving.
My teenager reminds me of Peter Parker. He is trying to figure out how to navigate relationships with girls. He is learning who he can trust amongst peers who call themselves his friends. And he’s learning there are people who do not want his good. Some of them sit behind him in worship at church. Some of them are teachers and adults, who do not understand grace and trust. Some of them are a part of his very own peer group, smiling at him as they convince him to do the bulk of the science project.
With the Spirit’s guidance, I can gently ask questions and make myself available to listen. If my son asks for help, I can step in and help him acquire some of the tools he’ll need to navigate future relationships. I can pray Scripture, without preaching Scripture, so as to remind him of how the Lord sees him.
And when he gets in way over his head, I’m praying the Lord will give me a word to step in and help him prepare for battle. After all, even Aunt May knows when to pack Peter’s Spider-Man suit (even when he’s pretty much 100% sure he won’t need it!)
Similarity #3: The Final Battle is Always Hard Won
As Far From Home concludes, the villain speaks.
“People need to believe, and nowadays they will believe anything.”
These words sent chills down my arms when I heard them in the movie theatre. And they have been haunting me for the last few days.
My teenager is up against a whole host of challenges that I didn’t face when I was his age. He has to figure out how to process photos on the gram, a barrage of text messages, over-sexualized gossip, and, well, image-based everything.
But as he processes the world he lives in, I will not stand by his side and let him lose hope. I will not let him go along thinking that his best option for believing is to settle and “believe anything.”
He will be photographed and posted to Instagram and told he is weak. He will be bumped up against on the basketball court and told he’s a loser. Somebody will see him changing clothes in the locker room and will, invariably, make a nasty comment that he’ll remember for years to come.
And I will be there to tell him the truth. We will have hard and transparent and say-whatever-you-need-to-say conversations around this question: How does the Lord see him?
“Redeemed from all lawlessness and purified for [Jesus], for his own possession, who is zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14).
As those who “once were dead in our trespasses (but) were made alive together with Christ, by grace” (Ephesians 2:5-6).
“In Christ, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22).
After all, this boy of mine. He is my modern-day teenage superhero, and my hope is that he will battle with his shield and sword: his Faith and His Spirit. I will cheer him on and stand by his side as he fights the most elusive and evil villains. I will cheer him on and help him see the truth.
Until the very end. Until the hard-fought battle is won.
