I can remember watching the first Avengers movie with my son and a scene that stuck with me was when S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson tells Loki that he will fail in his pursuits because he lacks conviction. Soon after, we see Loki grow angry and just as he’s going to make his point, is shot.

At the end of 2015, my son and I went to go watch the new Star Wars movie and I was stoked because I can be a nerd. In a scene where Kylo Ren hears disturbing news about his men not being able to catch some of the resistance, he becomes enraged and destroys an entire room with his light-saber.

Here’s my point: both characters throw fits; giant adult-sized fits.

Superhero movies have a great iron as the good guy has conviction and a broken past and while they struggle, they move forward in their convictions to save the day. Men, today, lack conviction. Conviction is a firmly held belief that requires action and that seems to be something of the past unfortunately.

ADVANCING THROUGH CONVICTION

The Bible is full of men who were real, had a crazy background, yet held convictions. In fact, one of the central themes in the Bible is that God chooses ordinary men and does extraordinary things through them to further the advance of His kingdom.

The Lord calls the drunk, the adulterer, the proud, and the weak and does a mighty work through them (fully knowing they’ll jack up) and gives men two big roles: fulfillment and responsibility.

If we look to Adam, Noah, and Abraham we see that in addition to a family, God gives them jobs. And as quickly as they’re blessed, they fail. However, in their failure, we see God covering them in grace and reassuring them of their faith and call as men.

These men were counted as righteous, not because they were awesome but because of their relationship (what we covered last week) with God and their conviction. Superheros are no longer on the big screen, but sit at at the dinner table; innovate and advance; cultivate and create; work and strive.

My prayer is that we stop looking to fictional characters for hope and look toward the One who’s given us a purpose through real men who went before us, failed like us, and helped advance the Gospel of Christ for the sake of His glory and not their own.

Men, conviction is a belief that requires action not passivity.