As a child, I feverishly read comic books. The Amazing Spider-man, X-Men, Batman, Green Arrow, and Daredevil were among my favorites.

Of course, like every comic book nerd, I secretly wanted to be bit by a radioactive spider, have my skeleton replaced with adamantium, or have a tragic backstory that propelled me in fighting injustice.

I think what marveled me was these characters’ willingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the city and world they loved. Nothing is more tragic than the rejection of these heroes from the very cities they defend, such as the case of the Dark Knight of Gotham.

Is sacrifice, commitment, justice, goodness, and compassion all that foreign of a concept that it can only be imagined on the pages of a comic? Is this not the calling of the church? 

“The church needs a compelling vision of a healed and whole Christian community (and a redeemed Christian social imagination). The church needs fresh practices before a watching world,” urged Grace Ji-Sun Kim and Graham Hill on the CBF Podcast.

Kim and Hill are coauthors of a new book, “Healing Our Broken Humanity: Practices for Revitalizing the Church and Renewing the World,” which is the central focus of this week’s episode.

Grace Ji-Sun Kim is an associate professor of theology at Earlham School of Religion, authoring over 20 books and hosting a podcast. Graham Hill is the research coordinator at Stirling Theological College and serves as the director of The Global Church Project.

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This podcast episode is brought to you by The Center for Congregational Health, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, and McAfee School of Theology Doctor of Ministry program.

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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, following eight years as the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton and five years as CBF’s church start specialist. Follow on Twitter @haleandy