HEROES

As you were growing into adulthood, did you have any heroes? Maybe your hero was one of your parents or a favorite schoolteacher or a sports figure or a movie star. Thousands of young men idolized Elvis Presley, Pat Boone, James Dean and John Wayne. Did your hero influence the way you talked or walked or thought about the world? There have been many cases where young people imitated their favorite movie star. If the movie star were a macho type person, young people tried to be just like their hero. In some cases, they even tried to look like their hero. How many hundreds and hundreds of young men have tried to look and talk just like Elvis Presley?

I have tried to review my own childhood to ascertain if I had any heroes. My father was certainly a major influence in my life. So was my older brother William. But I suspect that the preachers who came to my home congregation had a more profound influence on my thinking and behavior than anyone else. I wanted to stand before a congregation and discuss the word of God, just like they did. I began to lead singing at age twelve and to participate in other church activities at a very young age. I probably would consider those preachers and some of my schoolteachers as my heroes.

Dr. George Roche served for many years as president of Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan. At one time, Dr. Roche was chairman of the National Council on Educational Research. He has written books on education, history, philosophy and government. In 1987 he wrote a book with the title, A World Without Heroes: The Modern Tragedy (Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale College Press). Russell Kirk, a highly respected conservative author, wrote the Foreword to Dr. Roche's book. Kirk quotes these appropriate words from Nathaniel Hawthorne: "A hero cannot be a hero unless in an heroic world" (p. vii of the Foreword).

A few brief observations from Dr. Roche's book will introduce our study of "Heroes." "The hero ... overcomes the ordinary and attains greatness by serving some great good. His example tells us that we fail, not by aiming too high in life, but by aiming far too low. More, it tells us we are mistaken in supposing that happiness is a right or an end in itself” (p. 4). "Real heroism requires courage.... Plainly, heroism also has a selfless quality" (p. 5). Dr. Roche quotes Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the famous Russian dissident, as asking: "Should one point out that from ancient times decline in courage has been considered the beginning of the end" (p. 7)?

Lenny Skutnik is one of Dr. Roche's heroes. He was the man who jumped into the Potomac River "to rescue a survivor of an airplane crash a few years ago. It could be the man in that same crash who gave his life to be sure that rescuers picked up all the other survivors first." It could be the "paperboy who braved an inferno to lead an elderly woman to safety. He survived, but suffered serious burns.... Risking or laying down one's life to save another is heroism laid bare" (pp. 19-20). Dr. Roche uses the word "anti-heroism." He believes - and so do I - that many religious leaders are "in the vanguard of anti-heroism, preaching the gospel of materialism. We see such startling anomalies as Protestant clergymen (preachers) funding revolutionary terrorist groups, and Catholics advocating 'liberation theology' and attempting 'dialogues' with Marxism-Leninism" (p. 47). "In the end," Dr. Roche affirms, "the anti-heroes erect Berlin walls around their utopias, pretending to keep out the envious, but in reality keeping in their slaves" (p. 58).

I have already mentioned some of the men who are heroes to millions of American youth and to young people in other countries. It is appropriate for us to think about some of these so-called "heroes" for a few minutes. For example, there is no question that Elvis Presley was one of the most beloved entertainers in the world. Millions of people flocked to his concerts, bought his records and watched his movies. There is no doubt he loved people and was extremely generous with his great wealth. But Elvis Presley was not the kind of man young people should imitate. He was unquestionably a womanizer and a drug abuser. He died an untimely death because of his abuse of drugs - including prescription drugs - and alcohol. Although a very talented singer, he is not the kind of man young men should emulate. When young men (or older men) abuse drugs, including beverage alcohol, and chase women they are in for some troubling days. Graveyards across America are full of people who behaved so foolishly. By divine inspiration, Paul declared: "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). He also teaches: "Be not deceived: God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap" (Gal. 6:7). Elvis Presley sowed to the wind and reaped the whirlwind (Hos. 8:7).

Michael Jackson was one of the cutest and most talented little boys I have ever seen. I remember when the Jackson Five first came on the scene. All of the Jackson boys were talented, but little Michael was a child prodigy. He was always the star of the family. The Jackson Five made millions of dollars on their records and on their concerts. Tragically, fame and fortune destroyed Michael Jackson. He was never allowed to grow up. He was a perpetual adolescent. He almost certainly was a pedophile. The dictionary defines pedophilia as "sexual perversion in which children are the preferred sexual object." I do not know if he actually engaged in sex with children, but it certainly appears that he did. If he did not, why did he pay one family $20,000,000 to settle a lawsuit charging him with child molestation?

I am sure the Jackson family grieves because of the untimely death of Michael. But it troubles me that the media gave so much attention to the life and accomplishments of Michael Jackson. I must ask every parent in my audience: Would you want your child to be like Michael Jackson? Is he the kind of example you would want your child to follow? His influence was decidedly detrimental to our culture. This nation cannot continue to achieve greatness when people live like Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. As much as millions of Americans loved them, they were not honorable people.

Just weeks before my preparation for this study, Steve McNair, the once-great quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, was shot to death in the home of his girlfriend. Like all Titan fans, I grieved that such a tragedy could happen to anyone. I especially grieved for his four sons and for his family in the state of Mississippi. There is no doubt Steve McNair was an outstanding football player, but was he an example for young people to imitate? He was arrested earlier for driving under the influence of alcohol. It really bothers me when anyone destroys his influence through drinking and through sexual immorality.

The death of Edward Kennedy filled the news media for several days. If you listened to the people in the media, you may have thought Ted Kennedy was a wonderful model, maybe just a little short of Jesus Christ. He may have been an effective legislator, but he was not a good hero for our young people to imitate. He was not a good man. Good men take full responsibility for their conduct. I understand he has a new book that will be available in a few days. According to news reports, he says he acted foolishly in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, but that is not good enough. Why did he not apologize for his criminal behavior while he was still living? Why do the media treat him as if he were truly an American hero? The way the media and fellow politicians exalted Ted Kennedy, I have wondered why he did not rise from the dead the third day.

There was a time in American history when people modeled their lives after the great heroes of the Bible. Tragically, millions of American young people cannot even name many of the Bible's great men and women of faith. What would change about our great nation if there were thousands of men and women who had the faith and the courage of Joseph? I encourage you to read the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. I shall stress only a few aspects of his life. His jealous brothers sold him into Egyptian slavery. "And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hands, and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put in his hands" (Gen. 39:2-3).

Potiphar's wife became enamored with the young Jewish slave. She asked him to lie with her. "But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master knows not what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has into my hand; there is no one greater in this house than I; neither has he kept anything from me but you, because you are his wife: how can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God" (Gen. 39:7-9)? What tremendous faith and courage! Joseph knew what God required of him. He also knew he had no right to engage in sexual activity with anyone, and certainly not with another man's wife. We know the strength of the sexual desires of young men. It was an enormous temptation for Joseph to reject the seductions of the wife of Potiphar, but with the help of God he did it.

The young men and women in our nation would profit greatly by imitating this great hero of the faith. They could avoid the venereal diseases that often accompany sexual promiscuity. They would not have the enormous responsibility of children born out of wedlock. They could go into marriage without the guilt associated with sexual immorality. This is not the kind of advice one hears on television and from some so-called prominent leaders in our nation. Promoting sexual abstinence before marriage has fallen on hard times among our elite. But there are still unspeakable tragedies for those who are sexually active before marriage.

Hebrews 11 has a long list of heroes of the faith-Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses and others. It does not chronicle the behavior of Joseph, but it does say concerning him: "By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones" (Heb. 11:22). Even though Joseph was in a pagan culture, he remained faithful to God. Would it not be wonderful if we had some Josephs in Washington and in our state capitols?

Four of my ancient heroes lived during the Babylonian exile. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were almost certainly teenagers when they were carried into Babylon. The temptations to compromise their convictions must have been tremendous. They were prepared for service to the king of Babylon. In their training, they were supposed to eat what their Egyptian supervisor brought them. "The king appointed them a daily provision of the king's food, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king" (Dan. 1:5). "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's food, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself' (Dan. 1:8).

Daniel proposed a trial. He said to the prince of the eunuchs: "Prove your servants, I pray you, for ten days: and let them give us vegetables to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenance be looked upon before you, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king' s food: and as you see, deal with your servants." At the end of the trial, the children of Israel "appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat of the king's food" (Dan. 1:12-15). Daniel and his three companions passed the test with flying colors.

Daniel believed that God would be with him and his companions. He was willing to risk censure and perhaps even death from the Babylonian king rather than to compromise his convictions. How desperately our nation needs young men and women who will always do what they believe is right! Is that not the attitude and the behavior Jesus exhibited? He told some of his fellow Jews: "He who sent me is with me: the Father has not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him" (John 8:29). I shall not take the time to discuss Daniel's being thrown into the lion's den or the other three Hebrew children's being cast into a fiery furnace. But these four Israelites are genuine heroes.

Many Christians probably are very similar with the conduct of the Apostle Peter. He was very weak in many respects. There were times he spoke when he should have been listening. He lied when he was accused of being one of Christ's disciples. A young woman came to the apostle and said: "You also were with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I do not know what you are saying" (Mt. 26:69-70). On one occasion, he acted the part of a hypocrite and had to be rebuked by another apostle (Gal. 2:11-14).

But in spite of his weaknesses, he is a hero to millions of people, including your speaker. If that were not the case, why would our Lord choose him to deliver the very first gospel sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) and the first to Gentiles at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10)? Peter was a staunch defender of the faith and encouraged others to do the same. "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man who asks you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (1 Pet. 3:15). We ought to learn from Peter's mistakes and imitate him in his faithfulness in serving our Lord.

Most Bible students think that David was Israel's greatest king. He was an outstanding military commander, a wonderful poet, as well as a great king. But David was far from perfect. All serious Bible students know of his affair with Bathsheba and of his putting her husband in grave danger so he would be killed. I am sure you remember how the prophet Nathan approached King David. He convinced the king of his inexcusably evil behavior. David is our example in this respect: He repented of the wrong he had committed and regretted it the rest of his life. He prayed: "Have mercy upon me, 0 God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me" (Psa. 51: 1-3).

There are other great heroes whom we should study and whose faith and conduct we should copy. The author of Hebrews provides a long list of heroes of the faith and wanted to mention others, just as I would like to do. He asked: "What shall I more say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets" (Heb. 11:32). Is there any doubt in your mind that all of us would be better Christians if we would take the time to examine the lives of these men and women of God and follow them as they followed the Lord?

I close our study today with a brief review of the life of one of Christianity's greatest preachers and missionaries - the Apostle Paul. Paul's early life (when he was known as Saul of Tarsus) was devoted to promoting and to defending Judaism. He was so strongly opposed to Christ and to his church that he actually gave his consent to the murder of a good man - Stephen (Acts 8: 1). But Saul was honest in his opposition to Christ and to the church. He told Timothy that he had been a "blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief' (1 Tim. 1:13).

Paul should be an example to all who are honest and want to know the truth. When Paul learned he was persecuting Christ, he asked the Lord what he had to do. Christ instructed him to go into Damascus and there it would be told him what he had to do. God sent Ananias to tell Saul what to do to be saved. Ananias told this penitent believer: "Arise, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord" Acts 22: 16). Do you remember what Paul told the Romans about their baptism and his? "Do you not know, that so many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of God the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Rom. 6:3-6). The same apostle told the Corinthians: "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have all been made to drink into one Spirit" (l Cor. 12:13).

Would you have your sins remitted and be added to the Lord's church? Confess your faith in Christ, repent of your alien sins and be baptized this very day. Then you are on your way to heaven.

Winford Claiborne

The International Gospel Hour

P.O. Box 118

Fayetteville, TN 37334