Hero Worshipഉദാഹരണം

Introduction

Everyone is looking for a hero. Someone to look up to. Someone to imitate. Someone to show us that our lives can matter and that it’s all going to be okay. We long to know that someone has faced all life can bring and has come out victorious—because heroes give us hope, the hope that somehow we can live the same story.

When we admire someone, we go out of our way to imitate them. Sometimes our imitations are trivial and fun. You got the unfortunate haircut of your favorite musical artist when it was still trendy. You had to wear the jersey number of your basketball hero. You knew you would run faster if Mom and Dad would just buy you that athlete’s overpriced, signature shoe. Surely we would attain some degree of greatness and the admiration of our adolescent friends, by our tacit association with these beloved celebrities along with everyone else who did the exact same thing!

Other times, our search to find a hero reeks of desperation. We look to an actor who portrays a character we admire for their courage, humor, and charisma. We hold up a musical artist who has the adoration of our hearts. We look to athletes who perform in competition in ways we can only dream. It may be a wealthy businessperson, a politician, or even a family member who becomes a model for us. The list goes on and on.

Our hearts hunger for someone to show us how we should live our lives. So we intuitively search for someone whose life exemplifies wisdom, joy, courage, honesty, humor, and, most of all, transcendent, selfless love. We long for a hero who shows us that the pain and evil of this world does not have the final say. A hero who brings us hope that tomorrow can be better than today. A hero who lives a life worthy of imitation. And if we can’t find someone who fits the bill, we fill it with a lesser substitute. Because let’s face it, a counterfeit hero is better than no hero at all.

But the truth is, we don’t have to settle. There is someone who has lived the life that shows us that the pain, evil, and suffering of this world do not have the final word. There is someone who is love, purpose, and power. There is someone who is a hero of such humility, character, and sublime wisdom that we stand in awe. Someone who faced accusations, injustice, evil, and buried them all. Someone who is worthy of our adoration and imitation. Someone who gives us hope for tomorrow and strength for today. He is the God-man, Jesus, full of truth and grace.

In Jesus, we have a hero who asks us to come closer, to walk in His steps, and to breathe the air He breathes. He is the only hero who only grows the closer we get. It is the inverse experience of our human heroes, who often disappoint us when we see the person behind the persona. From a distance, we can see Jesus as a nice guy, a good teacher, a liar, a megalomaniac, or a nut job. But the closer we get, the clearer our vision gets and the more overwhelmed we are with His claims. He is no mortal hero. He is the embodiment of love wrapped in the blood, sweat, and flesh of a man. He is hope where all other hope disappoints—because no hero has ever made the kind of claims Jesus made and remained worthy of our admiration and worship.