When we look at the world's standard of what a hero is, we find that they don't quite measure up.
Michael Phelps: got caught using illegal substances
Alex Rodriguez: admitted to using illegal substances
Heath Ledger: had accidental overdose of prescription drugs which included oxycodone and hydrocodone, two powerful narcotics.
Chris Benoit: killed his family and himself. It's speculated that the tragedy was caused by Benoit’s use of anabolic steroids.
And there are many more...
These are not heroes.
The actual truth of the situation is our heroes should be those who have shown their faith in G-d though their example. Most people think that only one action makes a hero.
A true hero has sacrificed repeatedly. They sacrificed time. They sacrificed money. A lot of these unsung heroes have sacrificed everything they have.
They don't sacrifice for the publicity or to make them selves popular. They sacrifice for the need of another and for the glory of G-d. These type people have continually gone above and beyond what any one person would have thought about doing. It is by their faith that they sacrifice. They have followed the calling that G-d has given them and they run with it. If any people on this earth should be hailed as heroes, these are the type of people we should lift up.
Hebrews 11 lists a great cloud of witnesses, a sort-of list of Bible heroes: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel...
What or who is a true hero to you?
True 
Lifetime
Comments (64)
haha. i was hoping this would be featured. you're the third friend featured within 2 days (haha...your wife just yesterday). wow! praise God =)
without being redundant...great post!
not me, even they are really attractive. who cares, they did the wrong thing, so they have to suffer the consequences.
Oh please, you're jealous. Just because Phelps smoked a bong once doesn't make him any less of a star athlete and it doesn't make Ledger any worse of an actor.
To be a hero you don't have to be flawless.
Michael Phelps is a GOD!! I lost respect for him when he got caught with the DUI, but this makes up for everything.
Eight gold medals, clean of performance enhancing drugs, AND he's not some uptight self-righteous tool?!
If you show me a relatively normal person who considers Chris Benoit an unconditional hero, I will lose my faith in humanity. Again. The guy was seriously messed up.
Do I or have I ever considered those people heroes? Not really. But I have held and still hold immense admiration for the skills of Phelps and the talent of Ledger. They have their failings and their strengths, as does every human. Just because their strengths are not based in their faith does not mean they are not admirable.
I agree with you that a hero is one who sacrifices near everything for those around him. Whether it is in the name of a god or not doesn't matter to me. Dedication to good either way is amazing.
because marijuana is bad? It may be illegal but a hero isn't someone who likes to relax and smoke pot from time to time while still working there ass off? if you see marijuana as some drug that makes you a total loser and strung out all the time wouldn't you see him as a more skilled athelete then?
I've never seen them as heroes in any sense. Yes, they are famous, talented men. But that doesn't make them heroic.
@misswonderj@xanga - I agree.
To the author: Did God not put majiuana plants on this earth? Who really cares if Phelps lit up once in a while?
As far as Ledger is concerned, unless you've ever had a need for these drugs, do not judge someone that was on them. True, they were strong narcotics. Anyone could have overdosed by accident.
Holier than thou posts irritate me. You judge these people based upon their flaws. I wish people that call themselves "Christians" would start focusing more on the merits of people rather than their flaws.
I'd never classify any of those as my heroes. But we do put people on an unrealistic pedastal by calling them a "hero".
@mimic1983@xanga - By their reasoning, God puts trials on this Earth for them to overcome. I also agree with your reasoning.
God also gave us promiscuous women, cocaine, and fast cars. Fancy that.
Phelps is no hero to me. He's just a great athelete. He's also Human. Whodathunkit? Strangely enough, it seems as though people only focused on by the media have been referenced here as being those "heroes". You'll never see my heroes in the news and if you do, it's not because everyone else thinks they're great, too.
I love the Hebrews 11 list of heroes - the one thing that ties them all together: faith (defined in verse 1 - "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."). They all believed what God told them and taht belief dictatated how they lived their lives.
One interesting/comforting thing about this list is that these people were far from perfect - Noah got drunk and ended up cursing his disrespectful son, Abraham doubted God and tried to take things into his own hands with the Hagar incident, Jacob was quite the con-man in his early days, Rahab was a prostitute, Gideon and Jepthah had some serious family issues, Barak was a bit of a coward, David committed adultery and murder, etc. YET, "God is not ashamed to be called their God" (v. 16). these hereoes are defined not by heir flaws, but by their faith in God.
I would say that although Phelps does not really project a positive image by lighting up, I do think he's still an incredibly talented athelete. When you really think about it Majiuana is not really a performance enhancing drug so the only thing this drug would do is ruin his performance not help him become a better athelete. When you consider this you have to realize that ultimately the only person he's hurting is him self. Now in regards to the rest of your post, what bothers me most is that this blog seeks to point out visible flaws of these individuals. While I would not dare to say that the behavior of the above people is commendable, I do believe that we need to remember that these individuals are still human and capable of error. Just because they make a 6 figure salary and are popular does not lesson the fact that these people are still in need of christ. In stead of attacking them because they messed up, we should instead pray that they will find Christ because ultimately that is the most important issue at hand. Everything else is secondary.
@godofthelost@xanga - I see their point.
My heroes will never been found in the media either, until their obits are published and still, they won't be recognized by anyone.
Just because Phelps smoked weed he's a bad person? Can't agree there. Obama has tried illegal drugs. So many role models have! That doesn't mean that all their followers will go out and get high everyday. It means they are human. They are curious. They are living life. And sometimes, living life means experimenting. It's how we learn.
@Melodicrose - Very well said.
a hero is someone who can rise up against all odds thrown at them. not just someone who believes in God in their example.
look at Stevie Wonder. Blind and yet a fantastic musician. he's a hero to blind people everywhere because of how he was able to cope with his disability. not just because he has faith in God.
{and i'm terribly sorry to anyone i offended. i do not mean to degrade and body or any Holy being. its just everyone i know tries to get me to convert to some form of Christianity against my will.}
each of the people you list azza bible hero wuzza great sinner az wellÂ
who are you to judge
My future husband is my hero, he really saved me from a whole lot of bad stuff
@pansybradshaw@xanga - Exactly. We are all sinners, including all the great men of the Bible. No one is to judge. This isn't to say that we should admire their faults, by no means is that the goal. The men listed here are all talented, great athletes/actors. Their yes, illegal, issues are sadly broadcast for the world to see, which is really not fair to them. No one deserves that. Perhaps people who get frustrated with them because of their faults should simply not put people on a pedestal to begin with.
I can't believe you included Ledger in this list. As you pointed out, it was an accidental overdose, and as a health professional I can tell you: it's very easy to overdose on prescription medications. If anyone is to blame it is whoever prescribed him the lethal combination: they're the one with the education and the responsibility to prescribe safe dosages.
His drugs were completely legal and not for recreational use, unlike the others.
Furthermore, just because Phelps smoked marijuana doesn't make his athletic feats any less amazing (I don't even know who the others are so I can't comment on them). It just makes him stupid for putting that crap in his lungs.
Just because someone is called a "hero" in their respective field doesn't mean they should be a role model or deified.
But I personally don't label anyone a hero unless they're dead (Mother Theresa, Eric Liddell etc). Otherwise it just sounds arrogant.
You might want to check that plank in your eye, author.
Also, your list of heroes at the end:
Abel didn't really -do- anything.
Noah was a drunk.
Jacob deceived his father.
Rahab was a prostitute.
Gideon didn't have faith and demanded signs from God before he'd believe Him.
David forced a woman to commit adultery and then killed her husband.
They all had flaws (most way worse than smoking pot), yet Scripture still calls them heroes. Your argument doesn't work.
The Benoit case never had real proof that he was the killer. Just sayin...
@misswonderj@xanga - Being flawless to be a hero isn't the point of the post, you know.
@TheOriginalImperial@xanga - true fact.
@J0EL@xanga - AMEN!
@forever_musing@xanga - =)
I dunno, I don't really agree with the post, but what J0EL said hits the nail on the head. My hero's are all the "saints who are in the land.. in whom is all my delight!" (Ps. 16:3) ... Remember, saints are sinners, too! Really, Who's goodness is it based on that anyone's a saint? Only God's goodness. Only God making someone a saint/calling them one is what makes one a saint.
= j
I think Heath Ledger went through a lot making that movie, and its unfortunate that he died, but who but God knows any of our hearts? Dissing people and people's heros is unbecoming though. . .