When I was a child, my favorite television program was Superman. I would race home from school everyday and plop down on the couch next to my grandfather just in time to hear the announcer’s opening words. “Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.”
Then the scene would shift to one of the street corners in Metropolis, and all of a sudden, you would hear somebody say, “Look. Up in the sky. It’s a bird.” Someone else would say, “It’s a plane.” Finally someone else would shout, “It’s Superman.” Then you would see Superman flying across the sky with his cape flapping in the wind.
After the program was over, I would go into my bedroom and pretend to be Superman. I had a t-shirt that I had drawn a big “S” on with a red crayon. I would put it on and tie one of my mother’s bath towels around my neck and try to fly across my bed. Although I was just a child, I wasn’t crazy enough to jump out of the window and try to fly across the street. We lived on the second floor. Even if I had been successful in flying across the street I still would have been in trouble because I wasn’t allowed to cross the street by myself. So I restricted my flying to my bedroom.
There were so many people that were caught up in the Superman frenzy; they came out with super everything, Superboy, Supergirl and Superdog. They even came out with a mouse that was flying around and beating up all of the cats in the neighborhood. They call him Mighty Mouse.
I loved Superman. He was my hero. I loved to see him beat up the bad guys and crush their guns with his bare hands. I loved to see him crash through concrete walls, but most of all, I loved the way that he stood for “Truth, Justice and the American way”.
One day, during the Halloween season, my mother took my brother, Ralph, and me to Sears to pick out our costumes. When I saw the Superman costumes I didn’t have to look any further. I knew exactly what I wanted. I was going to be Superman.
I didn’t need that t-shirt with the “S” drawn on it anymore. I had a real “S” for my chest. I didn’t need the bath towels anymore, because I had a real cape. Although Halloween was almost two weeks away, every evening I would put on my costume and become Superman. I couldn’t wait until Halloween came so I could finally wear my costume outside for everyone to see.
However, when the big day had finally arrived, the weather had turned cold, but I didn’t care. I put on my costume and headed for the door. My mother stopped me and said, “Wait a minute, boy. Go in there and put your coat on.” I looked at her and said, “Superman don’t wear no coat.” She said, “I said go in there and put your coat on”. I said, “But Superman don’t wear no coat.”
Mother gave me one of those looks, and then she said, “Either you put your coat on or you keep your tail in the house.” I went to my bedroom and started mumbling to myself. “Superman don’t wear no coat. Superman don’t wear no coat.” Then I put my coat on and went outside.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one whose parents insisted that their children wear a coat, but that didn’t make me feel any better, because no one could see the “S” on my chest or the cape on my back. Therefore, no one could tell that I was Superman. I just looked like everybody else. I just looked like another little kid with a coat on, but everybody knows that Superman don’t wear no coat.
Some people think of Christians as super humans and the church as a place where the perfect people meet. That is why some people think that they are not good enough to go to church. They will say, “As soon as I get myself together, I will go to church.” They think they have to stop drinking, stop drugging, or stop running the streets first; but that makes about as much sense as a sick person saying, “As soon as I get myself well, I will go to the hospital.” Jesus wants us to come to Him just as we are. Then He will change us into who and what He wants us to be.
In reality, the church is a hospital for sinners. None of us are perfect. None of us have “arrived”. We all struggle with some things, but we strive toward perfection. That is why we come together as a church family to worship God and to encourage and strengthen one another.
One day, a little boy went to his father and said, “Dad. What is a Christian?” His father, being one of the leaders in the church, was proud to tell his son what a Christian is, but after he had finished giving his explanation, the boy looked puzzled. Then he looked at his father and said, “Dad. Have I ever seen one?”
Unfortunately, some of us don’t always look and act like Christians after we leave the church house. When we get out into the mean, cold world, sometimes we put our coats on. We look like everybody else because we have our coats on. We talk like everybody else because we have our coats on. We act like everybody else because we have our coats on. Therefore, people cannot see the Christ in us because we have our coats on.
Bench members are not the only ones that put their coats on when they are not in church. There are some deacons, ushers, choir members and even preachers who have been known to put their coats on after the benediction as well. Some of them are well known televangelists, while others are unknown pastors of storefront churches.
Those of you who read “The Hoodlum Preacher”, know that I left the ministry and the church when I was 20 years old. I was a dope fiend for most of twenty-two years, from 1969 to 1991, and an alcoholic until 1993. In 1994 I went back to church and back to preaching the Gospel, and I was doing quite well, for a while.
I moved to Greensboro, North Carolina to go into business with a friend of mine. One day, I attended a birthday party in his backyard and drank a glass of wine along with the other guest. There is nothing wrong with having a little glass of wine, is there? Maybe not for most people, but I had been an alcoholic for almost 25 years. That innocent little glass of wine woke something up in me. Before I knew it, I was in the kitchen with the wine bottle turned up. After that, it was like I had never quit drinking.
The business failed and I returned to St. Louis. When I got back, I became a “closet drinker.” I was too ashamed to let anybody know that I had a problem and needed help. I had too much pride. After all, I was Rev. Barr. I was in charge of the substance abuse ministry. I couldn’t let people know that I was drinking again. So, after church was over and I wanted to go to the liquor store, I would change my clothes so I didn’t look like a preacher. In other words, I put my coat on.
Jesus said that we are the light of the world. However, we cannot light up this dark world if we have our coats on. It is very important for the church of God to remember that we all need help sometimes, and when we do, we can call on Him who is able to keep us from falling (Jude 24). Just remember, Superman don’t wear no coat, and Christians shouldn’t either.
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