Thoreau, The Incredibles, and Sunday's Sermon

Have you ever heard a sermon about a Pixar movie? This past Sunday our pastor used The Incredibles as an illustration in his message. He was talking about gifts, and whether we use them or hide them. In the film, Bob and Helen Parr are ex-superheroes, having given up their crime-fighting ways after a big fiasco and going undercover in the suburbs. They're raising their kids, trying to live normal life and not use their powers (or let their children use theirs, for that matter). The analogy was that Mr. Incredible (Bob) and Elastigirl (Helen) were given gifts - superpowers - that could be used to help others. When they were undercover and stifling their powers, they became increasingly frustrated.

This got me to thinking about my favorite character in the movie, the little boy on the tricycle. Bob's been having a bad time at work lately, and he comes home to find the kid from next door staring at him. Here's the clip:

I love how Bob looks at him and asks,  "Well, what are you waiting for?" And the little boy shrugs and says,"I don't know, something amazing, I guess." Bob replies sadly, "Me too, kid."

The boy knows that there is something special about the Parr family. But they never act like it. He keeps waiting to see why they are different, sitting in their driveway day after day, but despite all of their gifts, they never do anything out of the ordinary. 

Compare this with the analogy from earlier. How many Christians are out there in plain sight, hiding their gifts? How many of us act just like everyone else? And how often do other people look at our lives, knowing there is something special about us, but never seeing us do anything out of the ordinary?

Pastor Jim said Sunday that gifts are obligations, not privileges. We're given them to use them, not to brag about how cool we are for having them. Instead of putting ourselves out there, and doing what we're meant and called to do, we hide undercover in the suburbs. Jim quoted Thoreau: "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." Do we want to be the kind of Christians who live our whole lives knowing we could do something great but ignoring it? Or do we want to be like the Parr family, and break out of the suburbs and do what we're meant to do instead?