This is my newest article for The Gospel Coalition. You can read the entire article here.
When a pair of hand-me-down flip-flops recently arrived in the mail, my 4-year-old son gleefully announced they had Spider-Man, Superman, Iron Man, and Captain America on them. I looked at him quizzically. How did he know the names of these characters—some I didn’t even know? We haven’t watched their movies, read their books, or purchased their toys. When I asked him where he learned about these superheroes, he shrugged and said, “Everybody knows about these guys, Mama!”
He’s not wrong. Superhero movies, comics, and clothes generate billions of dollars worldwide, year after year. It’s easy to understand why. Good guys defeating bad guys and normal people who end up with supernatural skills and abilities—this is the inherent message our hearts long for, placed in us by a loving Creator. But if comic book superheroes are the only ones we’re showing our kids, we’re missing a beautiful opportunity.
You can read the rest of the article here.
