Explaining the Leap of Faith

In an interview, the late Blake Snyder was talking about Superhero stories—James Bond, etc.—and he said a few interesting things. He said that the superhero is the character is the one offered something, but he knows the problems of accepting it, so he refuses. A superhero warrior might be encouraged to become the king, but refuses to go home to be with his family because he’s seen the problems that come with that position. I can’t help but thing of Jesus Christ. Satan offered him the world. People crowded around him and wanted him to rule over them, but he knew he had something better. The superhero knows the risks and challenges of being special and takes it seriously.


Blake also mentioned that while the nemesis wants to bring the power of the world to himself and it destroys him. Some of these characters exert so much effort into their plan that they bleed. I suppose it isn’t that much different from people who seek fame and fortune. Their quest for fame is so hard on them that many burnout and commit suicide or die from drug use.


It is a picture of what happens when we’re in sync with God and when we’re not, Blake says. He used an illustration that really brought this home for me. He talks about James Bond being a divine character and says that “James Bond jumps across building and finds a pier for his feet to land on. He doesn’t hesitate, because he knows he’s on a mission and it’s a divine mission. And so he knows he cannot fail.”


Now most of us aren’t so in tune to God that we know that we cannot fail, but if God were to reveal to us that our mission as divine and that we would accomplish it, if we had faith, we would be freed to accomplish things that we wouldn’t normally think possible. If you knew that you wouldn’t be hurt by jumping off a cliff because you know it is your destiny to live to fight another day, of course you’d be able to take that leap.

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