The scene is tense. A nine-foot-tall robot is this close to taking over the world and
wiping out humanity. Just one man is close enough to stop him. But this man
(while a very strong and active man) is only that—not enough to stop this
remorseless mass of metal.
It’s comic land, of course, and a Marvelous one, at that. Captain
America is going after Ultron in Seoul during the epic Avengers: Age of Ultron, and he is alone. None of the team capable
of going toe-to-toe with the villainous robot—Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk—is even
on the same continent. It’s up to him.
And at the precise moment he goes into the fray and is
dodging fire, his teammate calmly informs him, “You’re not a match for him,
Cap.”
Encouraging. Real sunshiney bedside manner you have there,
Hawkeye. Way to stand by your teammate.
I can relate. Most of my focus problem stems from another
monster of modern technology: the entertainment culture. Whether that’s
computer games and Netflix or the darker side of the net, it seems irresistible.
Sit down. Be consumed. You tried scheduling? No dice. You try abstaining? You
have to be near it for work. The siren call draws you in and consumes not only
your free time but your sleep and time for other projects. You get hollow eyed
and exhausted and instead of learning your lesson, you just fall quicker. Every
time, nothing works. You try to fight your habits and desires, and you find out…
you’re not a match for him, Cap.
Eye roll. Thanks,
Barton.
No, actually that’s good news. You see, laziness/gluttony is
a sin. It stems from Sin, proper. And if there was ever a monstrous baddie that
was too big for one man to fight, sin qualifies. You really can’t win, James my
lad. Not a hope. Impossible. Might as well give up. What’s the world worth,
anyway?
But against all measured wisdom, Cap shows us the right
solution. Jump in and fight. Go hand to hand. Slow it down with every trick,
dodge, and evasion in the book, even if it feels like you’re throwing peas at a
tank. Hurl the shield and watch it bounce off. Again. And again.
You don’t have to win. You just have to slow it down long
enough for help to show up. Sin is inherently self-absorbed. It likes to forget
about God. The greatest Power of all time, the one who promised never to leave
you or forsake you. You may complain that He’s not here. You’re fighting alone
just as usual. God’s absent!
Of course He is. Like any good hero, He likes to show up just in the nick of time. The
story’s better that way.
So the next time temptation, technological or otherwise,
stares you in the face and your mind tells you with a perfectly straight face, “You’re
not a match for him, Cap,” what do you do?
Jump in. Throw the Shield.
