Midweek Encouragement - "What is a Hero?"

"What is a Hero?”

 ^{According to the dictionary, a hero shows great courage, achieves extraordinary feats, and has high moral integrity. Noble qualities, at least in theory. Heroes are those who risk much, and show enormous virtue. From a Christian perspective, a hero demonstrates the Biblical virtue of self-sacrificial love.}

         ^{When you see the best moments of someone’s life every day, you’re seeing a hero. But let’s admit it; in today’s American society we see far more people who are impressed with celebrity than with heroism. True heroism comes down to taking a risk in order to do the right thing, to stand for virtue and truth at the very moment those virtues are on the line. Daniel Boorstin, the late Librarian of Congress, famously identified a celebrity as someone who’s famous for being famous. Heroes, however, may not be famous at all.}

         ^{Heroism isn’t just about doing the right thing at great risk. It’s doing the right thing even when the world isn’t watching or applauding. Many of the most heroic acts performed in human history are unknown to me or you, but they’re not unknown to God.}

         ^{I don’t know who your heroes are, but I do know that your heroes tell me a lot about who you are. What our world applauds as a heroic deed tells us a lot about what we value as a people and what ideas we view as truly virtuous.} 



         ^{You didn’t receive a PD’s Mid-Week Encouragement last week because I was with a lot of heroes at our church camp in the mountains north of Newville, Pennsylvania (www.campyolijwa.org) I served with many others who gave their precious time and energy to care for people who often have trouble caring for themselves, people who are developmentally challenged, physically disabled, or people who may be intellectually disabled. Perhaps we didn’t put our lives at risk to enhance the lives of our campers, but we treated our campers as if they had no disability whatsoever. Maybe we didn’t risk our lives as EMTs or fire fighters or police officers, but we did what Mister Rogers called “seeing a need and responding.” Fred Rogers said, “We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It’s easy to say ‘It’s not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.’”}

         ^{I consider the people I worked with last week at Camp HOPE my heroes. They loved people who are made in God’s image, but who are often cast aside and considered unproductive by our society. We saw them and loved them through the eyes of their Creator God.}

         ^{Fred Rogers also said, “To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now.” By allowing our campers to be heard, to feel loved, and to know that someone cares about them, we shared Jesus with them in a way that will not quickly be forgotten.}

         ^{To whom will you be a hero today? When God places someone in your path a person who might be difficult to love, how will you respond? Will you push them aside and focus on you or will you risk your comfort, sacrifice your schedule, and love that person exactly the way he or she is right there? The choice is yours. Be a hero today!}

^{Sharing Christ’s love,}

^{Pastor Dale}

Pastor Dale (PD) and Pamela his wife are honored to serve the Mt. Laurel Church of God. If this Mid-Week Encouragement has helped you, perhaps it may encourage someone else. Feel free to share this message with anyone you choose. And if you'd like to receive PD's Mid-Week Encouragement, just send an email to (kingdomguy@gmail.com) and I'll accommodate your request.