Spiderman and Jesus

A few years ago, I traveled with a group of guys to a Promise Keepers convention. There were thousands of men going into a stadium to hear about Christ and to be challenged to change their lives. Primarily due to misunderstanding of the message, there were many people protesting the conference. Because of the possible threat of violence from these groups, the stadium had hired outside security for crowd control.

As we entered the arena, I passed one of these fellows. Spiderman. No, not Peter Parker, but a 6 feet tall biker type. Shaved head. Muscular with a shirt that said Security on it, black jeans and combat boots. Both ears pierced multiple times. Oh yeah, and tattoos. Lots of them. Both arms were sleeved in tatts. But, what drew the eye was the spider web tattoo that covered his face and head. Centered on his upper lip, the spider web went down his neck around his cheeks, over his forehead and back over his shaved pate. Spiderman. If you saw him coming at you down the street, you’d be afraid. In a dark alley, you’d run for your life.

All I could think at the time was, “You’d think Promise Keepers would do a better job of vetting the people working at their events.” Why would they let a guy like that work at one of their events?

Later, while the event was going on, I got up to use the restroom. As I returned to the seating area, they had started singing, “Amazing Grace.” There, in the back of the seating area, I saw him again. Spiderman. This great big biker type, covered with tatts and piercings was stomping to the music with his hands raised to heaven and his head bowed. With tears streaming down his face, he was sweetly singing the words to Amazing Grace – “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, to have saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see…”

Jesus tells a parable of a religious man and a sinner who went to the temple. The religious man stood proudly and prayed loudly, thanking God that he wasn’t like the sinner and reminding God of all of the ways the religious man had served God this week. The sinner on the other hand stayed far off and tore his clothes and beat his breast crying out, “God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

I never met Spiderman personally, but I’m pretty sure of which one he was in this parable and which one I was. I don’t know what his story was, but his history was written all over his face and body.

Because I don’t have my sins and scars on the outside of my body, it’s easy to forget that I have a history too. It’s a lot easier to pretend that I’ve got it all together and don’t need nearly as much grace as those sinners do.

The lesson Jesus teaches me time and time again is that I am a wretch who is broken and screwed up beyond belief. And, I need His grace as much as any other tattooed sinner out there. I belong on my knees, tearing my clothes, beating my breast, and weeping at my condition. “God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Thank you, Spiderman.