Of late we would have heard in response to the Ravi Zacharias
scandal, that we shouldn’t hero-worshipped anyone or put our leaders on the
pedestal or succumbed to the celebrity culture. I would suggest that there are differences
between a hero and a celebrity although it may be a fine line we are treading.
Firstly, a hero may not necessary be a public figure. He or
she may be someone who is only known within a small circle. For many people
their greatest hero may be their dad and/or mum. In fact, it should be and
ought to be. A celebrity is only celebrity because he/she is known publicly.
The more that a celebrity is known or greater the fame, the higher the status
of a celebrity.
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The same is
true for some heroes. Their heroism may not be appreciated by everybody. They
may come across as very ordinary. Not so with a celebrity. There are no
ordinary celebrities. Ordinariness doesn’t make one a celebrity. Everyone sees
a celebrity as extra-ordinary. Extra-ordinary in terms of appearance or
capabilities/competencies.
Instead of extra-ordinary, some heroes may even be less than
ordinary. Of the Suffering Servant it was said “…. he had no form or majesty
that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.”(Isa.
53:2b). Of Paul, it was said, “his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of
no account” (2 Cor. 10:10).
We tend to accept and recognize the flaws in our heroes. The
term “a flawed hero” is not considered an oxymoron. They remain our heroes
despite their flaws. But usually not so with our celebrities. We are either
unconsciously or intentionally oblivious to their flaws. The day we see those
flaws, the very same day they cease to be our celebrities. Our celebrities have
to be impeccable and flawless.
That brings me to my last point. We then worship our
celebrities. After all, don’t they deserve our worship if they are impeccable
and flawless, so much larger than the ordinary human. Interestingly, we can
talk about our sports or entertainment celebrities (actors, actresses or
singers) as our idols. We dare not use the same terminology with our Christian
celebrity preachers or teachers. But we are only deluding ourselves if we think
there is no difference just by avoiding the term. It’s not merely a word or a
term but a whole culture. To succumb to the celebrity culture is to be
idolatrous.
Although we may face the same pitfall with our heroes, we
look to our heroes as someone we can emulate. We draw lessons from their lives
as to how to behave or act. Our heroes teach us. Our celebrities put us into
bondage of idolatry or more often than not we put ourselves in bondage.
Well, some people may say, “We don’t need either heroes or
celebrities. We just need Jesus.” That sounds pretty pious. But I think it’s
misguided piety. Why do you think Paul told Christians to imitate him (I Cor.
4:16, 11:1; Phil. 3:17; 2 Thess. 3:7,9) instead of imitating Jesus? (Paul did
say he imitated Christ, 1 Cor. 11:1) I think God in His providence has provided
us with godly examples. Godly examples who at the same time may be flawed as we
are. With such knowledge, it also increases our appreciation of God’s grace.
One more point. If you need to choose a hero, choose one who
is preferably dead. The longer the better. Dead people cannot disappoint us
though historians may yet uncover uncomfortable truths about your hero. But the
impact will not be as great compared to a living person. If at the outset, you
have accepted the fact that your hero is not perfect, you probably be able to
live with it.
In my next post, I hope to introduce you to one of my heroes.
