Remember Spider-Man? Pretty much everyone does these days, in the wake of this year’s record-setting movie featuring the legendary comic book character.

For those who didn’t grow up reading Marvel comics — as I did, often to my mother’s chagrin — Spider-Man is the story of a high school student who is bitten by a radioactive spider and gains some of the spider’s abilities: incredible strength and agility, tiny spines on his hands and feet that enable him to climb sheer walls, and (in the movie version, at least) the power to spin spider-like webs. (I’ll admit, it sounds silly when you put it into words.)

Why has Spider-Man remained such a popular icon for forty years? The secret to the character’s success has always been the fact that, underneath his flashy red-and-blue tights, Spider-Man is just a shy, bookish kid named Peter Parker. Peter comes from a working-class family (unlike most comics heroes before him, who always were independently wealthy), is considered a nerd by his peers, has a boss who underpays him and overworks him, and doesn’t have much luck with girls. In short, when he’s not swinging across New York City chasing criminals, he’s an ordinary guy with problems and weaknesses. A guy like you or me.

Christianity is the faith of ordinary people. Jesus had some well-to-do and prominent disciples, such as Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and Lazarus of Bethany. But most of His followers were average folks. Fishermen, like Peter, Andrew, and the sons of Zebedee. Tax collectors, like Matthew and Zacchaeus. Even beggars and other social outcasts. In fact, Jesus’ opponents used this fact against Him: “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” the Pharisees asked His disciples. To which Jesus replied, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick” (Matthew 9:11-12).

As Christianity spread following the ascension of Jesus, it was these ordinary people who carried the gospel message to the world. They were “uneducated and untrained men” (Acts 4:13). Even the apostle Paul, who likely was personally responsible for more conversions than any other evangelist ever, worked as a tentmaker (Acts 18:1-3). Paul often declined financial support from those he taught, choosing instead to make his living by his own labors (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:7-10).

The Scriptures tell us that the way of Christ has little appeal to the upper crust of human society. “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Corinthians 1:26). God uses the lowly to accomplish His purposes. Those who have their own agenda of self-glorification and material greed are useless to Him (1 Timothy 6:3-5, 9).

What God wants is ordinary people who will bend themselves to His will, as clay is molded in the hands of the potter. People who will take whatever resources God has placed at their disposal and use them in His service (Exodus 4:10-12). People who will say to souls in need of the good news of salvation, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you” (Romans 3:6).

In the first century A.D., a handful of ordinary men evangelized the planet (Matthew 28:19-20; Colossians 1:23). They used the power God vested in them to turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6). We have that same power in our hands today — not the miraculous power that attended the gospel in apostolic times, but the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16).

To quote Spider-Man’s famous motto, “With great power comes great responsibility.” We may be ordinary, average people. But with the gospel in our hands, we too can be heroes if we exercise our responsibility (1 John 5:4-5).