Team Justice League
08-30-2006
by Johann Snyder

He may be the world's greatest superhero, but sometimes even he needs a helping hand. He may be the world's greatest detective, and the ultimate loner, but even he can't do everything by himself. I'm talking, of course, about Batman and Superman, two key members of the Justice League; a team of the some of the greatest heroes on earth who have banded to together to protect humanity from any all threats. Justice League Season Two was recently released on DVD, and not only is it an excellent show full of adventure, action and drama, it also has some poignant lessons for us as Christians.

Justice League is produced by the same excellent team that brought us the superb Batman: The Animated Series and Superman: The Animated Series. Although season one of the show had its problems and wasn't really the homerun everyone was expecting, season two of Justice League became the show everyone was hoping for; one of the greatest superhero shows about one of the greatest superhero teams. One of the problems was finding a balance for all of the character, and finding a way to make all of them feel distinct from one another. In season two, many of those issues were addressed. Superman finally acts and feels like Superman, instead of the Super-wimp he was in season one (something the producers readily admit to as being a problem and was tops on their list to fix), plus we get a lot more background and some private moments that help flesh other characters such as Flash, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter. All in all, this is the best Superhero cartoon on TV; and it isn't just for kids. This show has the action, drama, and humor that can appeal to any age.

Of course, with this many super-personalities and super-powers all grouped together, you would think that it would lead to some super-ego sized super-fights; and you'd be right. One of my favorite episodes in season two shows what happens when the Justice League trains to be more of a team. The heroes discover that maybe they don't work quite as well together as they thought, and there's even some thoughts that maybe they don't really need each other. Although they do find a need to ban together by the end of the episode, doubts still linger about whether or not the Justice League really works.

I like to think of the Church as the ultimate Justice League. Because of the work of the Holy Spirit within each one of us, and because God has gifted us all with unique and special abilities, we're actually a lot like that group of heroes; except we fight to save humanity for all eternity, not just from one crisis to the next. We also have another similarity to the Justice League; thinking that sometimes we can go it alone. Superman may be powerful and invincible, but he still has his weaknesses, and he finds out in season two of Justice League that he needs the rest of the Justice League just as much as they need him. We have to be careful not to fall into the same thinking. We may be stronger in some areas than other Christians, but that doesn't mean we don't need the help of our fellow Christians. The Bible repeatedly encourages team work among the followers of Christ. It talks about unity and oneness among believers. It compares us to a body; full of different and unique parts working in unison for a single purpose. No matter how powerful you may be as a Christian, you will always need the love and support of fellow Christians to be successful. God never intended for us to go it alone, because when we do, that's when we're most vulnerable.

So let's learn from the heroes of the Justice League. Although we may face trials and challenges that will test our resolve and our loyalty to one another, we must never let our unity fall apart or the enemy will win. We may be different, we may different have tactics and plans for accomplishing our goals, we may even believe differently on some non-essential topics; but if we can work together and fight to show the world the way, the truth and the life, Hades and all it's power will never be able to overcome the Church - God's very own Justice League - of which you are an important member.

Johann "Yo" Snyder is the host of the Mid-day show at M88 radio, 88.3FM in Albuquerque, NM. He writes a monthly blog that takes some elements of current events and pop culture to illustrate spiritual points. The archives for these articles can be found at: http://www.m88.org/yo-duh.asp