Having read the book “Not a Fan” by Kyle Idleman, there’s a lot of things that have been brought to my attention. It’s a challenging book and one of the things I’ve noticed since reading it is that I care a lot less about “Christian Heroes”.
There’s no doubt who I’m talking about: those people that we, as Christians, have a tendency to glorify and (dare I say?) worship. These are public figures, usually singers, athletes, or other popular people in the media who proclaim to be Christians. The tendency seems to be that we, the everyday, not-so-famous ones, latch onto these figures. We hope that this figure, whoever it is, can live the exemplary Christian life. I’m not sure if we’re hoping that others will see the example and say “Wow, what do they have that I don’t?” or because we want to know ourselves.
Off the bat, it sounds really biblical. We’re supposed to be salt and light, right? Absolutely! We’re supposed to be in the world but not of it, Christa. I agree 100%! So what’s the problem? The problem is not the person themselves. It’s how we treat them.
How many times have we put someone on a pedestal? I can think of plenty of examples in my lifetime: Mandy Moore, Ben Roethlisberger, Tim Tebow (the most recent), and countless others. I think that the mentality of the “Christian Hero” goes even farther than that.
I know growing up, I loved The Beatles. I still do. And I remember putting John Lennon on the same pedestal as all the other Christian Heroes I had. He believed in love as much, if not more, than them, right?
Thankfully, I grew out of that kind of thinking but there’s something to be said about that. How often do we look at a list of characteristics and say “That person must be (or is) a great Christian person”? I think kids and teenagers are particularly influenced by this kind of thinking because there’s already so much pressure on them to idolize pop culture figures. It gets even more confusing when adults do it too.
How often do we elevate people then cross our arms and shake our heads as we watch them fall to the ground? And every time we’re surprised. We judge and wonder what could have happened to make them faulter from their upright position.
One of the things that this book has made me realize is that we’ve got to change that mindset. Not because it’s not healthy for those people to be put under that kind of pressure or because it’s not good for kids. We need to change that mindset because we actually have the perfect example.
It might sound kind of trite but Jesus is our “Christian Hero”. He fits all of the characteristics that we need to have in a leader: He’s got the perfect exemplary lifestyle, He’s all-loving, He’s just, and He’s given the abosulte best advice for His followers.
Jesus has a lot of fans that tend to have other heroes on their radar. But followers know that Jesus is the one and only hero that there ever was or will be. They know that while people are imperfect, Jesus will always be there to do the right thing. He’ll be the only one that they can run to for everything. And the nice thing about it is that He’s not going to fall off His pedestal because it’s where He belongs.
After all, who else has ever risen from the dead on their own accord? After being terribly tortured and disfigured? And because they loved you and me more than life itself? I don’t know but I think that’s pretty super heroic.
So is it wrong to join with fellow believers in their walk? No. Are we going to be a fan if we look up to those who have great faith? No. When we understand that Jesus is the ultimate hero though, we’ll start to see those of the faith less and less like superstars and more like those the bible talks about: those who take up their crosses and follow the real Hero daily.
-Christa
Driving Notes 