My mind goes in weird directions some days and they just stick with me. One weird thought I've had is, "Am I a Batman?" And I don't mean, "Do I have the skills to kick criminal butt?" (In case you were wondering, yes, I do.) What I mean is, am I willing to sacrifice things for others, including my enemies?
Enemy is defined by dictionary.com as "A person who feels hatred for, fosters harmful designs against, or engages in antagonistic activities against another; an adversary or opponent." In other words, enemies are people continually working against you to bring you down. This can count towards, siblings, parents, random people, drug lords, etc. but this only counts if they are CONTINUALLY trying to knock you over or stand in your way. It's a game. Your opponent is working against you to beat you. Not sometimes, ALL the time. That's the difference between a person who OCCASIONALLY annoys you and your enemy. One does it all the time, the other sometimes.
You probably see where I'm going with this by now. Batman sacrificed everything for his friends AND his enemies...people who hated him and wanted him behind bars. But, there's something deeper then that.
Are you ready for it? It's pretty heavy stuff? You sure?
He LOVED them.
That's what sacrifice is.Willing to give up everything, including your life, for people you love and care for. I mean, you cannot sacrifice for someone, if you don't love them. Would you be ready to sell everything you had in order to send money to some guy you hate who burned his house down because he was drunk?
Of course not!
It all has to do with the heart and whether you truly love that person or not. I ask myself this question daily with everything from "should I share my iPad" to "should I not play a video game today because my sister hasn't all week" to "maybe I shouldn't make meatloaf today since everyone but me hates it".
It wasn't until recently that I really started to think about how much I was willing to sacrifice.
July 20. A gunman sneaks into the midnight showing of TDKR in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and wounding 58. Hearing about this the day after the shooting made me sick to my stomach. I thought a lot of horrible things about that man, things I shouldn't have thought. But I was angry. How could this happen? Why? What the heck was he thinking when he stormed into the theaters, armed with three different types of guns and smoke grenades? Such questions will probably never really be answered...and I don't know if I want them to.
Then I started to think; what would I do if I was in that theater? Would I push my friends and family out of the way and try and get out? Would I drop to the floor, trying to dodge the shooters bullets? Would I stay with my group and help others try to get out? Would I protect someone? Would I be like this young man, ready to lay down my life for the one I loved?
My heart tells me I would gladly lay down my life for the people around me.
But what if it was someone who I didn't like? What if it was someone you had hurt me in the past and hated my guts. What if this person was my enemy? (personally, I don't KNOW if I have any enemies...I'm kind of oblivious in that way)
This isn't so much a question for me as it is for you? What would you do? Do you love your enemies? Do you show them kindness when they spit in your face? From a Christian perspective,they are my brothers and sisters in Christ and my answer is yes. I do. And I am willing to lay down my life for them.
In TDKR, Selina Kyle speaks with Batman before he goes to face Bane, the films antagonist.
"You don't owe these people anymore," she whispers through gritted teeth, "You've given them everything."
After a pause, Batman replies, "Not everything...not yet."
My absolute favorite verse in the bible is John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Now, I may not be able to rock the cape and cowl very well;
But I can be a Batman...
.....or better yet, I can be like Christ, who came into this world, knowing full well he was to be crucified for his friends AND his enemies. Christ, who was perfect in every way, came down and died for me, that I might have everlasting life. If you hate Christ, you are enemy to him and God. But guess what? HE DIED FOR YOU TOO! He sacrificed his life FOR YOU! He has a place prepared for those who have accepted his gift. He has a place for those who know full well why he sacrificed himself. He loves you and he wants you to come home with him when you die. I cannot begin to comprehend that, and you probably won't be able to either. Sacrifice. It cannot be done without love.
So are you ready? Think you're up to the challenge?
Are you a Batman?
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