The other night my husband and I decided to watch a movie. It was one of the many story lines so popular today, you know, where the world is no longer safe or functional, and those at the top of power have manipulated a game, or experiment with a certain group of people? This particular group study was being conducted with what seemed to be 14-24 year olds, who were brought to a location where they had to figure out the game in order to survive. No it was not the Hunger Games, but something similar. There was no sexual content, foul language or psychotic violence, which we appreciated, and it turned out to be much better than either of us had anticipated. However, it got me thinking. You see, this movie only had 1 hero. Which seems to be a common theme in these types of movies. But this one hero had been blatantly chosen as ‘the hero’ from the very beginning, much to many of his fellow players/teammates dismay (in the movie). He was referred to as ‘the chosen one’ from early on and the other smart and innovative young players aligned themselves with him immediately while the other not so smart ones tried to plot his demise. It got me thinking that out of all the character, and personality types, that would watch this movie the writers, producers and studio CEO's knew, without a doubt, that every viewer would watch this movie, cheering for the hero, or going a step further, they knew each of us would relate to the hero, as though he represented each of us in the movie. Because we the viewers always think of ourselves, our character, our human ability as being above and beyond… even heroic (if given the chance or situation) somewhere deep down inside at our core. So, of course everyone would root for the ‘hero’ character! No viewer was going to pick out an average character in this movie and say ’that’s the one I am most like’ or ’that’s the one I would like to be, if I could be anyone in this movie’ because we all know that only the hero and maybe the sidekick have the guaranteed survival rate to beat out all odds. Yet, I found it so fascinating that no character development had been done on anyone else in this movie other than the one young man who would ultimately save the day. It was like the other characters were there, but we never fully got to know any of them.
So why is it, and what is it about each of us, that we so obviously see ourselves as ‘the good guy’, the ‘one that’s right’, ‘the one with superior mental capacity’ the one that would ‘save the day’ if given the chance? I mean come on, Who doesn’t want to be THAT person!? It’s what we all secretly crave and strive for, right? But why? Is it because that is how God created us? When God shaped and molded the very first human being, He did so with Himself in mind - The true hero, the true King, the true victorious One and only. He created us after His own image! We were to be rulers and caretakers of our domain. Regardless of the sin factor, that inward longing to represent God in the world around us exists still today in each of us, somewhere, perhaps deep down. And it is why a movie can be made with only one hero, one person that can save the world from utter destruction, one hero… and we all watch it and relate to that hero as if he were reading our minds!
Upon deeper thought and consideration of this idea I found myself pondering the articles I’ve read and studies I’ve seen in the past on criminals who have committed sin and done much evil. The first thing that stood out to me was that a true criminally inclined person was not wired like the rest of us, no, in their mind what they did was not ‘wrong' or ‘evil' and they were so certain of this, that being caught was something they never thought would ever happen! How can you be caught for something that isn’t wrong? It sounds psychotic to the healthy and normal mind, but most people who do bad things repeatedly, also see themselves as ‘the hero’ of their story. It is very rare to find someone who did something, whether it be illegal, sinful or wrong that they did not truly believe was for the betterment of their environment and the world around them. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? Yet here we are, sinful creatures, who know what is right, know what God has commanded us to do, yet we are still sinning. Perhaps not the 'serious stuff' that could get us tossed into jail, but the *little* stuff that perhaps no one will ever find out about. But, aren’t we the hero of our story? Isn’t every thing we do the right thing? How can we be so wrong so often?
How do we know if what we do in the world around us, with our best intentions, trying to be the hero of our story line, is truly the right path? There is only one way to find out. Have we followed what scripture says? Have we looked at the world around us and all that we could do and laid it at the feet of Jesus saying “Not I, but Christ’?
There truly is only one hero to the story and one man who saved the day - Jesus Christ- and there will never be another. Yes, we can do great things here on this earth and we can create a lot of good, but not through ourselves for that would only lead us to becoming the villain in the story. To truly be the hero in our story is to lay it all down and with great humility realize that our strength our intelligence our gifts and abilities are all given to us from The One that sits on the thrown, the One that created us with His hand. But the most beautiful part is that this King wants us to be His heroes, He wants to bless us with every good thing and He believes we are special and gifted and extraordinary, that is because He sees us through a lens that has been cleansed with His blood. We have the opportunity to truly be great because the One and Only Hero above all, came down to earth and really did win the day, really did beat out all odds and He really did come out victorious. The greatest story ever written really does have a great and perfect ending, and the best part? We all get to be in this story!
- Naomi Striemer
So why is it, and what is it about each of us, that we so obviously see ourselves as ‘the good guy’, the ‘one that’s right’, ‘the one with superior mental capacity’ the one that would ‘save the day’ if given the chance? I mean come on, Who doesn’t want to be THAT person!? It’s what we all secretly crave and strive for, right? But why? Is it because that is how God created us? When God shaped and molded the very first human being, He did so with Himself in mind - The true hero, the true King, the true victorious One and only. He created us after His own image! We were to be rulers and caretakers of our domain. Regardless of the sin factor, that inward longing to represent God in the world around us exists still today in each of us, somewhere, perhaps deep down. And it is why a movie can be made with only one hero, one person that can save the world from utter destruction, one hero… and we all watch it and relate to that hero as if he were reading our minds!
Upon deeper thought and consideration of this idea I found myself pondering the articles I’ve read and studies I’ve seen in the past on criminals who have committed sin and done much evil. The first thing that stood out to me was that a true criminally inclined person was not wired like the rest of us, no, in their mind what they did was not ‘wrong' or ‘evil' and they were so certain of this, that being caught was something they never thought would ever happen! How can you be caught for something that isn’t wrong? It sounds psychotic to the healthy and normal mind, but most people who do bad things repeatedly, also see themselves as ‘the hero’ of their story. It is very rare to find someone who did something, whether it be illegal, sinful or wrong that they did not truly believe was for the betterment of their environment and the world around them. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? Yet here we are, sinful creatures, who know what is right, know what God has commanded us to do, yet we are still sinning. Perhaps not the 'serious stuff' that could get us tossed into jail, but the *little* stuff that perhaps no one will ever find out about. But, aren’t we the hero of our story? Isn’t every thing we do the right thing? How can we be so wrong so often?
How do we know if what we do in the world around us, with our best intentions, trying to be the hero of our story line, is truly the right path? There is only one way to find out. Have we followed what scripture says? Have we looked at the world around us and all that we could do and laid it at the feet of Jesus saying “Not I, but Christ’?
There truly is only one hero to the story and one man who saved the day - Jesus Christ- and there will never be another. Yes, we can do great things here on this earth and we can create a lot of good, but not through ourselves for that would only lead us to becoming the villain in the story. To truly be the hero in our story is to lay it all down and with great humility realize that our strength our intelligence our gifts and abilities are all given to us from The One that sits on the thrown, the One that created us with His hand. But the most beautiful part is that this King wants us to be His heroes, He wants to bless us with every good thing and He believes we are special and gifted and extraordinary, that is because He sees us through a lens that has been cleansed with His blood. We have the opportunity to truly be great because the One and Only Hero above all, came down to earth and really did win the day, really did beat out all odds and He really did come out victorious. The greatest story ever written really does have a great and perfect ending, and the best part? We all get to be in this story!
- Naomi Striemer
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