Multiple Man
Introduction Games are just a fact of life when you meet as many new people as regularly as I do. It seems like just about every month I’m in a new circle telling people my name rank and serial number, along with what my dream car is, or what major I had, or what my most embarrassing moment was.
Last time this happened we talked about super powers. “If you could have any super power what would you have?” which is actually a complicated question when you are a huge nerd like me. Most normal people are trying to choose between speed, strength, or invulnerability, but nerds know that the possibilities really are endless. In the X-Men continuity alone there are over 3000 Mutant Powers.
The nerd’s mind is also rife with useless information about the pitfalls of superpowers. Nerds know that light hitting your retina is what enables you to see, and so if you are invisible and light is going right through your eyes, scientifically speaking you should go blind, which would definitely not be worth it!
Well anyway I have officially settled the matter for all introduction circles about superpowers so that I don’t have to spend three hours thinking. I settled on multiplication, Like Multiple Man (pictured) which means the ability to copy myself in order to take every opportunity, even those that happen at the same time. To spend the time getting a Masters in philosophy and not miss out on the chance to go on mission in Zambia at the same time. Meanwhile another me might be in Tibet studying Kung Fu on a mountaintop so he could come back and merge back into the rest of us. Best of all, It has no obvious downsides.
Interestingly. I realized that this already what I do. I myself can only be in one place at a time, I can only leader one bible study or visit one church in any given moment. So I spend most of my time teaching other people to do it instead, and then letting them teach others who teach others. This is the way Jesus, who multiplied his ministry into 12 disciples saw those 12 to multiply and multiply until we saw little Christs in every nation of the world.
I might not be able to take every opportunity, but one of my multiples can get the pieces I miss. Pretty cool
Pastor Ryan Gaffney 
I, too, have longed for this same super-power, but must confess I planned to use mine in a more mundane way. One of me could do the laundry and one could clean the house and one could do my writing, etc., so all of us could have some time off!
Seriously, your underlying point is very true. Those who teach and train can multiply, rather than just add. I see that illustrated in my pastor-husband who has given himself without stinting for 37 years to our church — and now there is a whole generation of people who grew up in the church from tiny children. They show the zeal for God, the love for others, and the giving heart that he has, because he has so faithfully taught and trained them.
So now I better go prepare my Sunday School lesson for my 6 and 7-year-olds. Thanks for the reminder that I’m not just doing a lesson, but making multiples!
sbrown
June 12, 2011 at 10:44 am
I’m glad you enjoyed it. Sometimes I wonder what people really like of what I write, so it’s great to get feedback!
If you like the short little parables you might like the one a wrote a while back about hotsauce:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/fearofwhales/2011/05/hot-sauce.html
rgaffney
June 13, 2011 at 4:01 am