Needing Heroes

 Looking on our culture today I find little evidence of “proper” heroes.  Throughout history, human beings have looked to heroes, both mythical and real, as models to be admired.   In our modern age, we have created mythological heroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc.  We like to see our superheroes as the good guys, as men and women we could take as models for ourselves. I remember reading stories of heroes.  We went to movies where the good guys always won.  We knew the bad guys.  They were evil both in what they did and what they said.  We always knew who the good guy was!!

Now however, we seem to be in short supply of real-live heroes these days.  Figures from American History who once inspired young people……Washington, Robert E. Lee, Clara Barton, Edison, Amelia Earhart and many more……..either fail to meet our politically correct standards and/or are simply left out of the classrooms or schoolbooks. 

Do we still recognize villains?  Or is the line between the villains and the heroes becoming somewhat blurred?   I don’t mean villains such as Hilton or Stalin or the terrorist shooting people in shopping malls.  Villains here might be those who defy what we consider right or wrong.  And how are we to judge the difference? 

Between the internet, face book and other modes of propaganda, the day of recognizing the heroes/villains has become hard to define.  Is it the guy who refuses to stand when hearing the national anthem?   Is it the guy who burns the American flag or tears down a statue of an old war hero?  Is it the teen that stood up to someone speaking against American values?  Or perhaps the guy who privately recorded a conversation between an abortionist selling baby parts to a lab.  Who is the real hero?  Who is the villain?

So now a question:  How do we as a society view the new heroes or villains?

How many of our young people view Jesus as a hero or just a sad Jew who was crucified by the Romans? Do His teachings have an influence on how we make our judgments as to heroes or villains? If not it should. 

When Jesus says……..we are not to judge another, in what way was he speaking?   Perhaps we have taken that statement to mean that we as believers are not to say anything about the deeds of another.  Really?  Then Jesus certainly could be accused of betraying his own words when he was so condemning of many in His society who professed to be religious leaders. 

Yes, we are to judge the deeds of others……. based on the very truth of scripture.  We must stand up and speak for the values that we hold dear or we will lose our right to say it.  The villains would put us down.  They would win by intimidation or make themselves out to be heroes!!  They want to blur the lines between what is proper and good and humanistic/agnostic thinking. 

There is a canyon of difference between heroes and villains. If we have arrived at the point where we build a bridge across the canyon, then we too have been deceived.  There is no turning back.  The villains have won.