Lesson One • Reach
Karsen Theede
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” Philippians 1:27
I love superheroes. As I read Scripture, I find myself, for better or for worse, comparing Bible stories or figures in the Bible to superheroes. As I was reading Philippians for our Reach, Gather, Grow series, one hero immediately popped into my head: Thor. He is the Norse god of thunder in the Marvel universe and is one of the founding members of the Avengers. He wields a powerful, magic hammer called Mjolnir, which allows him to fly and channel lighting while in battle. One of the things that made it powerful is the spell put on it. The spell makes it so the only people who can lift the hammer, are people whom the hammer deems worthy. If the hammer does not believe you are worthy, the hammer remains heavy and will not move an inch.
Thor has not always been able to wield his hammer. In the first “Thor” movie, Thor was living a life of foolishness, irresponsibility, and not taking the power he had seriously. Thor’s father, Odin, noticed this and cursed Thor. Odin took away Thor’s power and his worthiness causing him to not be able to wield his hammer. So throughout the rest of the movie, Thor had to prove that he was worthy so he could regain his power and be able to wield his hammer again.
Just like Thor, we are called to live a life worthy, as said in Philippians 1:27, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” If we want to “wield” the Gospel of Christ as Thor wields his hammer, we must live a life that is set apart from this world. For us to be effective in the sharing of the Gospel, we must not have anything in our lives that hold us back. If we have things in our lives that are holding us back, as with Thor’s hammer, the Gospel remains “heavy.” Meaning, it is not easy for us to share with people, or we may not even be able to see the opportunities to share the Gospel in the first place. Do not be discouraged if you are finding that it is hard to wield the Gospel. Just remember, if Thor can become worthy again on his own, imagine how much easier it will be for you with the King of kings and Lord of lords in your corner.