Be a Hero

I finished reading AMERICAN IDOL this week. It is the story of Willie Mays, the baseball great. Willie was one of my favorites as I was growing up. I recall practicing the “basket catch” he made famous, thinking that someday I might be playing in the big leagues. Perhaps the basket catch is his trademark, but his hitting and base running is most memorable. He will always be one of the greats.

The book also reminded me of a very important aspect of life – especially for a boy, I think. That is the aspect of having a hero. A hero is someone to admire, respect and emulate. Willie Mays, and many other ball players – Al Kaline and Larry Doby come to mind, fit the role of hero for me. I never recall hearing or reading where my heroes were using drugs, toting handguns or anything other than playing ball and doing a doggone good job of it.

Heroes are made, not born. Today there seem to be too few of them. Modern day heroes are not necessarily sports figures that play well and play by the rules. Now that I have matured some, I understand that heroes are people who live for something or someone other than self. It is the mother who struggles to get up at night to nurse a sick child. It is the father who consistently and faithfully works at a job he may not particularly enjoy in order to provide for the family he loves. It is the teen athlete or scholar who refuses to experiment with drugs or cheat because he wants to excel fairly. It is the older, unmarried girl who refuses to engage in premarital sex because she wants to remain pure for marriage. It is the soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan who serves his country courageously. It is the pastor who works diligently to prepare fresh thoughts for a sermon, even though the congregation is small and rural. The list goes on, but I am sure you understand the point. These persons, and many others like them, are heroes. They put principle and others above self-interest.

Heroes are not perfect people. No one is perfect. The only perfect person to ever live was Jesus - and look what they did to Him! But it is Jesus who calls us to live for Him with these words, “He who finds his life shall lose it; and he who loses his life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). With those words Jesus not only calls us to live for a higher principle, but to live for a higher person – Himself. Only by so doing will a person find the real meaning of life. To live for Christ is to be a hero.

Heroes make an impression. For some, statues are erected. For others, books are written and films made. For the follower of Christ, other lives are affected and positive change occurs. The world becomes a better place and the ranks of heaven are enlarged.

Be a hero!