Heroes of Faith –The Invincible Apostle Paul

As you can tell from my title and picture, I am going to be comparing the Apostle Paul to Iron Man. I am breaking my usual format and telling you the comparison right away. I have several reasons for saying that Paul is the Biblical equivalent of Iron Man but, at least for today, I am not going to focus on the Armor of God passages from Ephesians 6. I love that section of Scripture and think that the Iron Man suit fits perfectly with the Armor of God but I have other reasons for talking about Paul.

Paul’s conversion makes me think of Iron Man’s conversion experience. Both Paul and Iron Man were going down sinful paths. Paul was persecuting the church of God and Tony Stark was living a life that just served his own selfish nature. Jesus came to Paul, blinded him, and set him on a better path. Jesus turned a persecutor into a missionary. Paul didn’t just become a Christian; he became perhaps the greatest missionary in all of history. His heart was completely changed. The gospel changed his life.

Tony Stark’s life was completely changed when a bomb exploded and shrapnel was lodged near his heart. He needed an arc reactor implanted in his chest so that the shrapnel wouldn’t kill him. In a sense, he was given a new heart and it completely changed his perspective. Instead of only focusing on himself, he started to think about helping others. He wanted to change his legacy and do something that would help people rather than harm them. He invented the Iron Man suit and became a superhero.

After their conversions, both Paul and Iron Man became very dedicated to their missions. In fact, they both became Iron Men in the way that we use that term to talk about athletes. An Iron Man in sports is a player who is able to play through injuries and assemble an impressive streak of consecutive games played. This characteristic is more the case with Iron Man in the comics than it is in the movies. But in both forms of media, he continues to be Iron Man no matter what comes his way.

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Paul would not give up. He knew the importance of sharing his faith. He had been shown great mercy and he wanted others to see that mercy. He encouraged young pastor Timothy by pointing him to the gospel mission. Even when Paul was imprisoned, he wanted to carry out the mission. Paul said, “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher” (2 Timothy 1:8-11).

Tony Stark expressed his dedication to his mission back in his first movie. His dedication has continued through 10 years of movies. At the end of Iron Man 3 it looked like he might stop being Iron Man. He later confessed in Captain America Civil War that he doesn’t want to stop being Iron Man. He is committed to the cause of helping others. In the first Iron Man movie he said, “There is nothing except this. There’s no art opening, no charity, nothing to sign. There’s the next mission and nothing else.” Tony wants to continue the mission as Iron Man.

Paul is the biblical version of Iron Man primarily for two reasons: the similarity in the conversion experience and the dedication to the mission. Thinking about this comparison leads me to focus on my own conversion and my own dedication to ministry. I would guess that most people reading this are more like me than the Apostle Paul when it comes to our conversion. I was baptized as an infant. God didn’t come to me in a dramatic way like he did for Paul on the road to Damascus. However, he did change my heart just like Paul. He created faith in me and set me on the path toward heaven. Now I am focused on a mission that is the shared mission of all Christians. As a pastor my mission is more full-time than other Christians but we all share the mission to share the gospel. We appreciate the truth that Jesus paid for all of our sins and we want others to have this life-changing message. Tony Stark is dedicated to his mission to be Iron Man. The Apostle Paul is dedicated to sharing the gospel. In varying degrees, all Christians share Paul’s dedication. We want many people to be saved eternally.