How Does the Bible Define a Hero?

 

Says Dr. Anne Bradley … When my son was younger, he watched The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, a Veggie Tales movie, all the time. A royal family needs rescuing from an evil tyrant. At one point, a fight breaks out on a pirate ship transporting the family. One of the pirates proclaims, “Where are the heroes? We need some heroes!”   

Where are the heroes, indeed! There are many cultural narratives about heroism. Some are biblical. Some aren’t. So how does the Bible define a hero?

When I think of heroism in God’s terms, I think of Romans 15:1-2. “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbours for their good, to build them up.” This verse describes the different characteristics of heroism: Helping those in need

Buttressing the weaknesses of others with our strengths and vice versa 

Contributing to the welfare of our neighbours

These are all active words. Being a hero means being a helper, supporter, and friend. Hollywood portrays heroes in quite a different light: they have supernatural powers and wear capes. As much as I enjoy a superhero movie, I think this is a sad definition of what being a hero means. It’s sad because it’s intangible. Since I can’t fly and I can’t always discern good guys from bad guys, how can I be a hero?

The Bible defines being a hero as helping those who in need. We need to offer our strengths to others to support their areas of weakness. This is how God calls us to love and serve others.

(Source - Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics, Dr. Anne Bradley, 11/11/16. https://tifwe.org/how-the-bible-defines-a-hero/)

Image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ncF3YfBGgUw/maxresdefault.jpg

 

C. Verbeek