|
LIFE MEETS THEOLOGY:
Hero Worship
by Greg Williamson (c) 2007
COPYRIGHT RELATED INFO
UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS
ARE
FROM THE
New
American Standard Bible.
LIFE: In the animated children's
television series titled Liberty Kids, the major events of the
American Revolution are told "through the eyes of kids just like you."
It's actually a very well done, entertaining, and educational program.
There is one thing, however, that doesn't sit quite right with me. At one
point the show's theme song refers to "searching for a hero to idolize."
While the sentiment may be harmless enough, the thought runs directly
counter to what people in general and Christians in particular should be
about. In his book titled Lies My Teacher Told Me:
Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (revised and
updated edition), college history
professor James W. Loewen offers a scathing critique of several standard
American history high school textbooks. A basic problem, as he puts it, is
"heroification, a degenerative process (much like calcification) that
makes people over into heroes. Through this process, our educational media
turn flesh-and-blood individuals into pious, perfect creatures without
conflicts, pain, credibility, or human interest" (pg. 19). Loewen begins
with an examination of Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller, both renowned
historical figures who, as it turns out, had some major warts. Wilson was
a war monger and a devoted bigot who segregated both the federal
government and the U.S. Navy. Keller was a card carrying member of the
Socialist party and a diehard critic of the U.S. government.
Professor
Loewen's professed aim is to get behind all the usual fluff and stuff --
the distortions, half-truths, and outright lies -- so often associated
with historical figures. He wants to dig down to the facts that prove them
to be very real people with very real flaws who made very real mistakes.
This, he hopes, will spur a very real interest in American history, which at the
present time is commonly viewed with about as much excitement as a root
canal. One thing is for sure: his book makes for anything but boring
reading! Without in any way intending to promote
wrong or suppress truth, for several reasons I find myself questioning
much about Loewen's approach.
-
Every person is
a combination of good and bad. Which is one reason hero worship is so dangerous: it blinds us to our
hero's faults and shortcomings. On this count, Loewen's denunciation of
"heroification" is right on the mark.
-
History is
not self-interpreting. We all view
history through our own personal grid of preconceptions, preferences,
and prejudices. And Loewen is by no means exempt from this truth. He has gone looking
for dirt -- and has found quite a bit of it, thus inadvertently
testifying to the maxim that a person usually sees what he wants to see.
On the other hand, the aim of the textbook publishers he criticizes is
to highlight the good in people and the positive impact they have made
on the world.
-
While we
should not overlook our leaders' blatant shortcomings, and particularly
those with far-reaching negative consequences, the truth is that every
person has a blind spot (and often more than one). Which is one reason
why a plurality of leadership is always preferable to a dictatorship.
THEOLOGY: Hero worship is a losing proposition.
Why? Because everyone has feet of clay. Everyone is a mixture of good and
bad. Everyone sins and falls short of God's glory. Everyone, that is,
except Jesus Christ -- which makes Jesus the only hero worthy of our
worship.
Besides that, a few relevant biblical truths come to
mind:
-
God calls the
shots, and he uses historical figures still in their sins. This truth
applies to ruthless dictators, benevolent statesmen, and everyone in
between. While that in no way exempts people from personal responsibility
for their sinful choices, it should help us avoid the headline hysteria
brought on by trusting in man rather than God. It should also provide
comfort as we remind ourselves that God keeps history moving along not so
much because of us as in spite of us.
-
God converts
sinners and elevates them to historical prominence. While every true
follower of God whose story is recorded in the Bible falls into this
category, some come to mind more readily than others: Noah, Abraham,
David, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, the twelve disciples,
and the apostle Paul (just to name a few). Like everyone else -- including
you and I -- all of these saints had shortcomings and made some very poor
decisions. What they had in common, and what kept them going, was a deep
and profound love for God.
-
Everyone
benefits from God's common grace. God causes the rain to fall on the just
and the unjust alike. In doing so, he does not excuse wrong behavior; he
does, however, provide ample opportunity for people to repent and turn
toward him.
-
The fact that even renowned
historical figures had major shortcomings should lead to a humble
confession of our own sins more so than outrage at the sins of others. To
paraphrase Jesus, we need to remove the two-by-four from our own eye
before we try to extract the toothpick from our neighbor's.
The
following is from the classic
The Cross of Christ, by John Stott. It speaks
both to what we are and what we should do about it:
| |
[W]hatever we are by creation we must affirm: our rationality, our sense of moral obligation, our sexuality (whether masculinity or femininity), our family life, our gifts of aesthetic appreciation and artistic creativity, our stewardship of the fruitful earth, our hunger for love and experience of community, our awareness of the transcendent majesty of God, and our inbuilt urge to fall down and worship him. All this (and more) is part of our created humanness. True, it has been tainted and twisted by sin. Yet Christ came to redeem it, not to destroy it. So we must gratefully and positively affirm it.
Whatever we are by the Fall, however, we must deny or repudiate: our irrationality, our moral perversity, our blurring of sexual distinctives
and lack of sexual self-control, the selfishness which spoils our family life,
our fascination with the ugly, our lazy refusal to develop God's gifts, our
pollution and spoliation of the environment, the anti-social tendencies which
inhibit true community, our proud autonomy, and our idolatrous refusal to
worship the living and true God. All this (and more) is part of our fallen
humanness. Christ came not to redeem this but to destroy it.
|
BACK TO TEXT |