Where Have All the Heroes Gone? (140)
Hebrews 11:8-19
A Texan was trying to impress on a Bostonian the valor of the heroes of the Alamo. "I'll bet you never had anything so brave around Boston," said the Texan.
"Did you hear of Paul Revere?" asked the Bostonian.
"Paul Revere?" said the Texan. "Isn't he the guy who ran for help?"
Fred Smith in his book You and Your Network, said:
Heroes are those who have changed history for the better. They are not always the men and women of highest potential, but those who have exploited their potential in society's behalf. Their deeds are done not for the honor but for the duty. Through our study of heroes we enter the realities of greatness."
Heroes are the personification of our ideals, the embodiment of our highest values. A society writes its diary by naming its heroes. A society writes its diary by naming its heroes. We as individuals do the same. When Socrates said, "Talk, young man, that I might know you he could have also added, "Talk of your heroes that I might know not only who you are, but also who you will become."
A discerning investor was having lunch with a young man who had recently been made CEO of a corporation. Early in the conversation he asked the young executive to talk of his heroes. The young man named a ruthless military genius and an arrogant executive. From then on the conversation took a cool turn and ended much sooner than expected.
Later the investor said, "What a shame to turn over an organization to such immaturity." And because of his impression of the young man, he sold his large block of stock, which proved a good decision.
Dr. J. C. Cain of the Mayo Clinic, when selecting the
young medical men to be trained at Mayo had difficulty because of the exceptionally
high caliber of all the applicants. All had excellent grades, fine discipline,
high motivation, and good work habits. In searching for some question which
would differentiate between them, he chose the same process as the investor,
"Young man, tell me of your heroes." Dr. Cain found this was the best clue
to their value structure."1
Researchers for the World Almanac and Book of Facts asked 2,000 American eighth-grade students to name prominent people they admired and wanted to be like. Those most frequently mentioned by the teens, as their heroes were sports celebrities and movie stars.
Commenting on this, columnist Sidney J. Harris lamented the fact that every one of the 30 prominent personalities who were named was either an entertainer or an athlete.
He noted that statesmen, authors, painters, musicians, architects, doctors, and astronauts failed to capture the imagination of those students.
He further suggested that the heroes and heroines created by our society are people who have made it big, but not necessarily people who have done big things.
They are people who have sought self-fulfillment.
The media has done non-thinking persons a disservice in getting them to exchange the lasting inspiration of the hero for the momentary excitement of the celebrity. While celebrities may dazzle us, heroes enlarge us.
The heroes of the early church were martyrs and ours are celebrities."
Our celebrities rise on a wave of applause and break on the rocks of inattention. They are fantasy waiting to be exposed.
The following was a UPI news release: "Isaac Singer, 77, who won the Nobel prize for literature at 73, said he was surprised and happy after his 1978 Nobel selection, but 20 minutes later he was the same man 'with the same worries and troubles.'"
The failure of human achievements to bring lasting satisfaction was expressed well by Mr. Singer. Less than half an hour after being so highly acclaimed, he realized that he was burdened with the same cares as before.
Who are our heroes today?
Sports hero. Football. Basketball. Tennis.
High School hero. Teacher, principle, etc.
Any body who makes money.
Cooperate leaders heroes.
Lee Iocota
Donald Trump
Michael Milchen
Someone ask one movie star who her hero was. She said that she watched her own workout tapes.
We need spiritual heroes.
A few years ago disc jockey in Jacksonville Florida ask teenagers who their heroes were.
Number #1 Prince, #2 Madonna, #3 Michael Jackson
Not a single one said mom or dad.
II. Reasons we lack heroes.
Two Characteristics we need when we look for heroes:
Someone big enough to follow.
Someone big enough to die for.
John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what you country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country."
Gave people a cause bigger than themselves.
WiCliff a very successful translating agency throughout the world did an add several years ago.
It was a picture of a strong athletic looking man wading through a jungle river with a canteen on his side. The advertisement said:
"Jim was voted the most likely to succeed. It's too bad Jim had it made. Personality, initiative, a college degree with honors, everything was his for the asking. Now look at him back packing across a jungle river, giving his life to a preliterate people barely out of the stone age, painstakingly creating a written alphabet from a previously unrecorded babble of sound. Working night and day translating the pages of the New Testament, exposing the senselessness of superstition and ignorance, relieving the pain and introducing the possibility of health, building a bridge of understanding to a neglected people and to think Jim could have been a success."
When they ran that ad they had more young people to sign up than at any other time. They gave kids something to live for and something for which to die for.
They gave them a bigger than life hero.
Heroes usually rise from a past generation.
Heroes do not possess a superior gift, but a superior spirit!
All heroes are real people. Today our heroes are fictional people, cartoon characters.
Heroes are people from whom we receive inner strength when we reflect on them.
Heroes sometimes are people who spend their whole lives doing something, for which they never enjoy rewards. The people coming behind them will, but they never enjoyed the rewards.
We usually want to be like them. They make you to want to stretch. Carry it to far and you end up trying to imitate them. We lose our uniqueness.
Fathers need to be heroes.
Half (51%) of the 13- to 17-year-olds surveyed by Gallup last year said they have no adult role model they want to be like. The other 49% were more likely to say they want to emulate their parents than sports stars or entertainers. Teachers and coaches were also popular choices, outranking media heroes.
III. The making of a hero.
Everyone has heroes--people they want to be like--but heroes are not just famous people who achieve outstanding things. "Heroes are heroes because they inspire others to do better."
So to be one you don't have to attract a lot of attention and have your name in the papers, you only have to inspire. This can be just through your consistency and self-discipline.
Heroes are men and women of sacrifice -- in a great sense they lived their life or sacrificed their time, talent, possessions -- or even life--for those of us who look up to them.
They have been remembered, not for what they got, but for what they gave. They were the responsible ones.They sacrificed their standard of living for their standard of giving.
The "me generation" through which we are passing does not possess the attitude of heroes.
Fathers need to be men who rise above themselves.
The century plant gets its name from the long intervals between flowerings when nothing seems to be happening. Yet those periods, which range from five to 100 years, are as much a part of the plant's existence as its times of blooming.
Heroes do not live their lives in the spotlight continuously.
Abraham Lincoln entered The Ford Theatre the night he was killed. The box he sat in was in the back and hard to get to. He could enter it almost unnoticed. But someone saw him come, and one lone person stood up and began to clap in applause. The whole theater stood and gave a twenty-minute standing ovation.
That was only five days after the war ended. Before the war ended he received much criticism because of his strategies.
This was five days after the war ended. He only had five days to enjoy the victory.
The same is true of the believer's life.
Look at Abraham the father of the faithful. He is called "the friend of God" (James 2:23) and is a model of faith (Heb. 11:8- 19). With those impressive credentials, you would expect him to have a complete biblical biography. Yet in the little more than 12 chapters that describe his life, almost nothing is recorded about his first 75 years. And of his remaining 100 years, only a few blossoms of faith, courage, intercession, bravery, and consecration are recorded. So what was this spiritual giant doing during most of his 175 years on earth? He was providing for his family, carrying out his daily duties, and going for long periods without any spiritual mountaintop experiences. So it is with us.
He survived for a long time as an example of trustworthy values, in
season and out.
IV. What makes Heroes?
Choice
Present choices determine future actions; decisions made today determine the heroes of tomorrows!
"It does not take strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do." (Elbert Hubbard)
Heroes are men and women of their times. They shaped their times for good. History is the story of the effect of great men and women.
Character.
Gen 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (KJV)
Crisis is the finest hour.
It has been said, "In every age there comes a time when leaders must come forth to meet the needs of the hour. Therefore, there is no potential leader who does not find his time. Tragically, there are times when no leader arises for that hour!"
Conclusion:
Abraham is a biblical hero of vision and faith. He was willing to risk all on the unseen
He ventured into a relationship, which became reality.
"We need heroes, who personify vision, for without vision we settle on too low a plateau."
It is a real tragedy that many athletic heroes win at their sport but lose in life. Life goes beyond the winning touchdown or a home run; it involves character. "The real heroes of life possess character qualities that endure time and circumstances." The Bible is the best place to learn about such character qualities because in addition to describing heroes it also points out how some of them failed. The lives of Saul and David can teach us much about character and making right choices.
1. Fred Smith, You and Your Network, (Word Books, Publisher, Waco, Texas, 1984) pg. 68,69