{"id":40897,"date":"2015-12-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/people-wouldnt-fight-crime-with-superpowers\/"},"modified":"2015-12-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-21T00:00:00","slug":"people-wouldnt-fight-crime-with-superpowers","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/people-wouldnt-fight-crime-with-superpowers\/","title":{"rendered":"People Wouldn’t Fight Crime with Superpowers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Which superpower would you choose—flight or invisibility? You can't have both, and you'll be the only person in the world to have that particular superpower, so which would you choose? An episode of the radio show This American Life explored that question and found some surprising responses. Here's how the commentator summarized the answers he found:<\/p>\n\n

\n

But what surprised me more was how quickly everyone would choose, as though they had been thinking about it for a long time. Everyone knew exactly which superpower they wanted and what they would do with it. Their plans weren't always flashy or heroic. In fact, they almost never were—[like the woman who wanted invisibility so she could act as a petty thief and steal cashmere sweaters].<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

\n

Typically, this is how it goes. People who turn invisible will sneak into the movies or onto airplanes. People who fly stop taking the bus. Here's one thing that pretty much no one ever says, "I will use my power to fight crime." No one seems to care about crime—like the guy who said, "I don't think I would want to spend a lot of time using my power for good. I mean … If you had to rescue somebody from a burning building or something like that, you might catch on fire."<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Possible Preaching Angles: Courage; Mission; Vision; Calling<\/strong>—But isn't that the whole point of having a superpower—to do good, to fight evil, to clean up crime? Why would you have a superpower and just be selfish or self-protective? (2) Spiritual gifts<\/strong>—In a way, every believer does have a superpower—a spiritual gift given to us by the Holy Spirit. How are you using your gift?<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3360,3537,3538,3595,3701,3731,4476,4567,4705,4808,4821,4909,4937,4952,4953,5048,5077,5120],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-40897","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-ability","tax_ctp_tags-call","tax_ctp_tags-calling","tax_ctp_tags-christian-service","tax_ctp_tags-courage","tax_ctp_tags-danger","tax_ctp_tags-mission","tax_ctp_tags-opportunity","tax_ctp_tags-priesthood-of-believers","tax_ctp_tags-rescue","tax_ctp_tags-responsibility","tax_ctp_tags-self-centeredness","tax_ctp_tags-selfishness","tax_ctp_tags-servanthood","tax_ctp_tags-service","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-gifts","tax_ctp_tags-stewardship","tax_ctp_tags-talents"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\nPeople Wouldn't Fight Crime with Superpowers - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/people-wouldnt-fight-crime-with-superpowers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"People Wouldn't Fight Crime with Superpowers - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Which superpower would you choose—flight or invisibility? 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