Should Your Child Play with Superhero Toys? A Biblical Perspective

Also Available on:

In this episode, we explore how to navigate your child’s interest in superhero, magic, and supernatural toys like Spider-Man and Pokémon from a biblical perspective. Learn how to form convictions based on Scripture, while understanding that different Christians may hold varying views. Join us as we dive into how to biblically guide your children in making choices about toys and entertainment.

Transcript

Note: The following is an auto-transcript of the podcast recording.

Hello, friends. Today's podcast question says, "What do you think of superhero toys, for example, Spider-Man, Pokemon toys and cards, ninja toys, dragons toys that involve the supernatural slash magic. My son is very attracted to them. I feel very strongly against them, but I feel like I have to say no to just about everything." Well, my heart really goes out to this questioner because it is confusing navigating all of the possible things that our children can be drawn to with regards to what they like playing and playing with, and then feeling like we have to say no to so many different things. So we're going to dive down deep into answering this question today.

But before we do, for those of you I haven't met before, my name is Elizabeth Urbanowicz. I'm the host of the Foundation Worldview Podcast where we seek to answer your questions so that you can equip the children that God has placed in your care to carefully evaluate every idea they encounter and understand the truth of the biblical worldview.

Now, the first thing I want to address with this question is that I know the word you is put in all capitals, but it really does not matter what I think because this is an issue that would fall into the Romans 14 and first Corinthians eight category. And both of those chapters are talking about different convictions that different Christians can hold all still within the realm of biblical orthodoxy. And those chapters specifically talk about meat sacrifice to idols and whether or not Christians can eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols. Also talks about different days that Christians are celebrating things. And in both of those chapters, the apostle Paul says that different Christians are going to have different convictions. But what's important is that we know what God has called us to because in Romans 14 it says "Whatever is not faith is.." sorry. "Whatever is not faith is sin." So we need to make sure that we have our own firm convictions. Understand that different Christians can have different convictions about these things. So that's why it doesn't matter so much what my personal opinion is on these things because these are issues that would fall into that Romans 14 and one Corinthians eight category.

So my question that I'm going to have for this questioner, and then for anyone out there wrestling with is a certain toy, okay, appropriate for my child to play with is why do you feel very strongly about this? That's a really important thing to discern when we're figuring out why we should say no or potentially say yes to something. So why do you feel very strongly about this? Is it mostly a feeling that you have like this kind of gut reaction, or do you have reasons that are actually rooted in Scripture? Because you might actually have a very strong feeling and it has firm scriptural basis, or you might just have this feeling, but it's just this nebulous feeling. You're not exactly sure why. We need to be constantly checking ourselves to make sure that our convictions are grounded in God's word. Now again, with these categories, things like Romans 14 and one Corinthians eight, different Christians can have different convictions that are grounded in God's word. For example, the people that were saying, no, we can't offer meat that's sacrificed to an idol. We're saying we are not to worship any other God. This meat has been offered to an idol. We don't want any part of it. And Paul encouraged them to not partake because it would sear their conscience. It would go against what they were convicted of where other Christians were saying like, no, God has made all food clean and an idol isn't anything. So I have the liberty to go to the market and buy whatever meat I want without asking whether or not it has been sacrificed to an idol. And Paul said that they had the liberty to do that. So we need to ask ourselves, what are our convictions and why? And just make sure that whatever our convictions are, that they are grounded in Scripture.

Now, another question that I have for this questionnaire is do you think all of these things are the same because there was a whole long list of things that were mentioned, superhero toys, Pokemon cards, ninja toys, dragons toys that involve anything that's supernatural or magical. So do you think all of these things are the same or are there different reasons for staying away from them? For example, when I think about Spider-Man and I think about Pokemon, I think those are two very different things that Spider-Man or Superman or Batman or Wonder Woman, these are all superheroes. So they're humans with these supernatural strengths. Where Pokemon is different anime, I think it's anime. I could be wrong. I'm not very well versed in Pokemon. It's different like anime characters that are fighting in some magical world. These are two different things. And so what would our reason be for either staying away from or engaging with a superhero? What would be our reasoning for staying away from or engaging in Pokemon? So these are things that we just need to make sure that we have worked out clearly. So if you're in Walmart or Target and you're walking by Pokemon cards or a Spider-Man action figure and your son asks for it, it's okay to say If you don't have that all worked out in the moment, it's okay to say, you know what? I'm not sure about that. Mommy's not sure about that, or Daddy's not sure about that. I need a little bit more time to think through if it's okay for you to get that toy. So then take some time to work through it. Why do you think that this is not a good idea? What are your reasons that are grounded in Scripture?

And then once you have come to a conclusion, be sure to explain your reasoning clearly to your son. For example, if you think that Pokemon cards, if you think that they are too grounded in Eastern religions, that they have things in them. And just so you know, I'm speaking off the cuff, I do not know a whole lot about Pokemon. So what I'm saying could be completely off base, I don't know. But if there's elements to Pokemon, the cards or the toys or the TV show that's really rooted in Eastern religions, certain words are associated with Hinduism or Buddhism or certain things that the characters do, and you just think, you know what? I don't want my son engaged in these different words or practices that just have really strong roots in Hinduism or Buddhism. So we're going to stay away from this. Just make sure that you explain that clearly to your son. You know what mommy or daddy has decided we're not going to do Pokemon in our family, and here's why. And explain that to your son and then say, you know what? When you grow up and you're still following God and you love him and you obey his word, you might have different convictions about this. And you know what that is, okay? Because this is something that Scripture isn't super clear on. But while you're in our house, we're going to stay away from this because we want our kids to understand that there's differences between having convictions for or against something versus these really core clear teachings of the Christian faith. It's not like, oh, well, it's okay if some people believe that Jesus was God and some people don't. No, it's very, very clear in Scripture that Jesus claims to be God. In the gospel of John, it is made clear that the reason the Pharisees are seeking to put Jesus to death is because he claimed to be God. Okay? So there are those things that are very clear in the Scripture or it's not like, oh, well, it's okay if some Christians believe that Jesus was the substitute to pay for our sin, and other Christians believe he wasn't. No, that's very clear in Scripture that Jesus is the propitiation for our sin, that he died in our place. But certain things like this, thinking about whether we can have a Spider-Man action figure in our house, those are things that are not directly commanded or condemned in Scripture. Those are matters of conscience. And so we want our children, even from a young age to be able to tell the difference between things that are very clearly laid out in Scripture and our core doctrines of the Christian faith versus things that are a matter of conscience.

So then the second question, so the first question I asked the questioner was, "why do you feel strongly about this?" Just to make sure that you understand this yourself and that your reasons are grounded in Scripture. And the second question I have to ask you is, have you trained your son to recognize or discern things that are true from things that are not true? Have you actually grounded your son in the concept of truth? That truth is what is real and trained him to discern things that are real from things that are not? Because when we ground our kids in this concept of truth, we will have much more liberty to let them grow their imaginations and engage in all kinds of imaginative storytelling, even if those things are not distinctly biblical, because they will then be equipped with the skills to discern, okay, what is true from what is not true? What is truth and what is error? Now, if you're thinking, this all sounds well and good, Elizabeth, I have no idea how to do this, highly recommend you check out our Biblical Worldview curriculum, which is for ages roughly four to eight, and then our Comparative Worldview curriculum, which is for children ages roughly four, I'm not sorry, not four, but Comparative Worldview is for children ages eight to 12 because the first unit of both of those curriculums grounds children in the concept of truth. And when we train our children to understand what truth is and to discern truth from error, we can have much more liberty in the things that they're allowed to engage in. Now, again, not vile things or things that directly contradict Scripture, but things that are part of our world that are not in direct violation of God's words, so that we're training them to discern truth from error.

And so some great questions to ask once we've grounded our kids in the concept of truth when they're engaging in imaginative play or action figures or stories through a show is how does this story or how does this character line up with what God has revealed in his word? Now, battles of good versus evil are great examples of this. I don't know if you've noticed, but recently, within the past five years or so, major motion picture companies have stopped portraying battles of good versus evil in kids shows. Instead, the things that are presented as not so good are just people not affirming your feelings. I think the movie Encanto is a great example of this. Now, I enjoyed the movie Encanto. I think the music is great, but who is the bad guy in that movie? It's not someone who's actually evil. It is the grandmother who simply fails to recognize how special Maribel is. Where in classic Disney movies, there's always been good guys versus bad guys, actual goodness versus evil.

So when there are situations of good versus evil, like in a Spider-Man series or in any other kind of Superman, we can talk about how we see the good versus evil battle in Scripture. I'm sorry, my phone is going off. Doesn't usually happen in the middle of a recording there, but we want our kids to understand that this good versus evil, that this really parallels Scripture.

Then another thing is the concept of a superhero who rescues others can lead to great gospel centered conversation because why is it that we're so drawn to superheroes? Because we love this story of humans being rescued by someone, of someone coming in and saving the day. Now, Jesus is not a superhero. Jesus is God, but Jesus has rescued us in the most ultimate way possible that he has saved us from eternal separation from God. And so when we see a superhero come in and save a city from the villain, this is paralleling the story of the gospel of what Jesus has done for us. So we want to get used to asking our children, how does this story line up with what God has revealed in his word? And then we can ask, are there any ways in which this story goes against what God has revealed in his word? And we can talk about characters who don't align with the biblical worldview, but when we train our children to discern truth from error, we can actually have them engage in very meaningful ways with characters and stories that are not necessarily distinctly biblical.

Now, the question are also mentioned frequently having to say no to their son. And so I think being intentional about saying yes to things that might not be your favorite but can be good is a good practice to get into because we do have to say no to so many things that our children want. I even think about a coworker that I used to have, and she told me how she was at a restaurant with her daughter and her granddaughter, and her granddaughter's name was Elia. And there were so many things at the restaurant they just kept saying, no, no, no, no, no. And eventually someone who was leaving the restaurant got up and said, you a little girl has the most beautiful name. I've never heard the name Noelia before. And the girl's name was not Noelia, it was Elia. But they were saying no so often that this person just thought that her name was Noelia, because they kept saying, no Elia, no Elia, no Elia. And so it can be hard when we feel like we're having to say no to a lot of things. So think about are there any things that you're saying new to? Are things that just things that irk you or bother you or are not your favorites, but are actually things that could be good?

I know a friend of mine, usually once a year, she has what she called a "Yes Day" with her children. And what they do is the day before they talk about what are some things that we can say yes to tomorrow? And they talk about certain foods, maybe that they don't eat all the time at meals, but that they can say yes to, or they talk about maybe watching an extra show or going to the park for a longer amount of time. Not crazy things. They talk about boundaries. It can't be like, yes, we'll go to Disney World tomorrow, or, yes, we'll stop all of our responsibilities, but they just have a yes day where they have a list of things that they can choose from that the parents will say yes to. So I think that's a great idea that you can incorporate just to practice not always saying no, because there's a lot of things we will have to say no to with our kids, but if we can be intentional about saying yes to some things that might not be our favorite but are still good things.

Well, that's a wrap for this episode. Ask that if you haven't yet, please take the few seconds that it takes to rate this content that really helps us get it out to more people. And just as we leave our time together, my prayer for you is the same as always, that no matter the situation in which you and the children God has placed in your care, find yourselves that you would trust that God is working all things together for your good. By using all things to conform you more into the image of His Son. I'll see you next time.