What is it that makes a person great? What does it take to cross the bridge of mediocrity in life and become a hero; to be a hero? What is a hero; I mean do we even have a clue? Think of the word hero; what are the first thoughts that pop into your head? Superman? Firemen? Soldiers? Doctors? Teachers? Your parents? How about Jesus? Jesus is the ultimate hero; He is the standard. What is it though about Jesus that makes him the standard of heroism; what attribute of His character defines that which is heroic? Sacrificial selflessness. Jesus lived free from selfishness; Jesus lived the character he speaks of in John’s Gospel: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13.) Not all people are heroes; not all firemen, not all soldiers, not all doctors, not all teachers, not all parents. Hero is the polar opposite of selfish; heroic acts do not make people heroes in the same way righteous acts don’t make people righteous. The selflessness it takes to be a hero is not that of neglecting one’s self, instead it is that of putting others before one’s self to the point of giving one’s own life. Too often maybe, it seems that the world around us tires to put forth figures of heroism. Is Al Gore a hero for his “work” on “global warming?” Is Peyton Manning a hero for winning the Super bowl? No, most definitely not. Hollywood generally does not put forth heroes either. My absolute favorite movie is Raiders of the Lost Ark; Indiana Jones is my favorite character of all time so much so that I even have a replica hat. Indiana Jones is dubbed the greatest action hero and it’s really hard for me to argue but he really isn’t all that much of a hero. Sure he kicks some Nazi butt and finds the Ark of the Covenant, some light up devil rocks, and the water to hydrogen peroxide converting Holy Grail, but for the most part he seeks after these as treasures bringing fortune and glory (in defense though he generally starts off with selfish motives he generally ends quite heroically; maybe he’ll be better in the fourth film.) So Harrison Ford’s character doesn’t have a complete heroic character, but there is a new character whose heroism is typically debated, that of Kiefer Sutherland’s character Jack Bauer on 24. Jack Bauer usually gets a bad wrap for the methods he uses in order to “save the world.” Sometimes he has to “motivate” people in order to get needed information. Ok, so he tortures people; not really a heroic act, but does that disqualify him from being a hero? Well, what motivates Jack Bauer? First, is protecting his family and second, it is protecting the lives of Americans in the wake of terrorism, both of which are done even if he must lay down his own life. Still, he does violate many, many laws and tortures many, many people, but like all selfless heroes does not make excuses about why he had to do it, rather he takes responsibility for his actions. Jack Bauer does not always act heroic but he is a hero. But seriously what does a bunch of debate over the heroism of fictional characters have anything to do with anything? It matters nothing whether or not any made up person is a hero; what matters is whether or not you are. Do you live a life of I’s, Me’s, and My’s? Selfishness is a sickness rooted in the depravity of man, but through grace we can be heroes. Christ is our standard, he is our hero. God gave His own life to save us; how do we respond to that? May we all learn to live the heroic lives God has called us to; may we learn to life out sacrificial selflessness.
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