Reboots and Mulligans

Have you heard about the new Spiderman movie scheduled to come out in 2012?  Don't believe me?  You can watch the trailer HERE.

You may have noticed something strange.  Its not part four in the Spiderman series.  Its a total reboot.  Tobey Maguire will not be playing Spiderman, there is a totally new Peter Parker.  In fact, all of the actors are new.  It's not even called Spiderman anymore.  Now, its "The Amazing Spider-man" (which you'll recognize as the original comic title if you're a nerd like me).  Marvel is completely starting over and taking everything back to the drawing board.  Its a fresh start.

I think it takes a lot of guts for Marvel to do this.  In order to start over, they have to toss all of the other Spiderman movies out the window.  And starting over so soon kind of gives the impression that Marvel is almost saying they did a bad job on the previous Spiderman movies so they need to take another crack at it.  Now, of course, they probably would never actually admit this, but they are kind of saying it by starting over.

Its kind of like calling a mulligan.  In most games, you're only allowed to call a mulligan (a do-over) if your first try was so obviously bad that its needed.  When somebody whiffs on the first swing in golf, they might call a mulligan.  I think it takes a lot of guts for Marvel to call a mulligan after three whole movies.

But its not the first time.  Marvel called a mulligan with Hulk remember?

In 2003, Marvel made the disaster and train-wreck that was the first Hulk movie.  Only five years later, they called a mulligan and got a good actor to star in the reboot "The Incredible Hulk".  There second attempt was great!  But again, it took guts and a bit of humility to just straight up ask for a do-over even though they never officially said the old movies were bad.

Do you have the guts to call for a mulligan when you need to?  Or are you the kind of person that makes the same mistakes over and over?  Do you admit when you are wrong and start fresh?  Or do you cover up your mistakes and pretend everything is ok?  

What I love about God is that He offers countless mulligans to us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold the new has come.  2 Corinthians 5:17

God is so amazing, that He is ready to wash you crystal clean and give you a fresh start every time you confess your sins to Him!  Through Christ, He offers us a wonderful new start.

Unlike Marvel though, you need to say it.  You need to open your mouth and confess your sins.  You need to admit you were wrong and that the things you have been doing were sinful.  Often, you will even need to confess to the people you have wronged.  Its going to take a lot of guts.  Its going to take a lot of humility.  

Maybe you told one lie that has snowballed into many lies to many people and its been a while since you were anywhere even close to honest about that issue.  Maybe you were a good student and only cheated once . . . and then you cheated again, and again, and again.  Maybe you got into an argument with your parents and hurtful things were said and now it just feels too late to fix things.  Whatever, the case may be for you, we all need to call for a mulligan sometimes.  We all need to confess to God and those we have hurt, admit we were wrong, and ask God for a clean slate to start fresh.

There is another way we are unlike Marvel.  Marvel can call mulligan and reboot a whole series, but there is no guarantee that the audience will like the reboot.  We may hate it!  The same might happen when we ask for a new start with people we have hurt or wronged.  They may not always be willing to give us a clean start.  But unlike Marvel, God promises that when we come to Him for forgiveness, He will forgive us and wash us clean.  1 John 1:9 says that He is faithful to forgive and cleanse.  He won't break that promise and He will give us a clean start.

So, what areas of your life have you really messed up lately?  Family, friends, school, work, church, personal, etc?

Are you willing to confess your mistakes and sins to God and ask for a new start?

Are you willing to confess your mistakes and sins to those you have hurt and ask for a new start?

What steps do you need to take to start over, fix your mistakes, right your wrongs, and honor God with a new direction?

We all need mulligans, even big and rich entertainment companies.  If Marvel could restart Spiderman after three movies, then its definitely never too late to ask God to forgive us and cleanse us for a new start!  So, stand up, admit your sins and mistakes to God and others, and bravely and humbly take the risk of starting anew.