Putting People on Pedestals That Don’t Belong There

People on pedestals have a
disturbing habit of falling.

Hero worship. It’s a national pastime. Fan magazines are filled with supposed “heroes.” We even like them super-sized – these days you can’t go to a movie theater that doesn’t offer some new “superhero” film. We idolize people – real or fictional – placing them on pedestals so they can more easily bask in our adoration. The problem is, they don’t belong there. 

That’s because all of us – even the rich, famous and powerful – are broken, flawed and fallible, anything but perfect. And we have the disconcerting tendency of proving it. When heroes fall, they leave scores of disillusioned admirers in their wake.

 

It’s not hard to find stories on TV, magazines or the Internet about how an A-list celebrity has gotten caught up in some kind of scandal. You can probably think of several examples right now. The media seem to revel in reports of Christian leaders who fall, as if to say, “See, he/she isn’t the godly person they claim to be!” Even if the disgraced persons never actually made that claim.

 

It does hurt to hear about these failures. These folks – whether pastors, entertainers, authors or conference speakers – are supposed to be setting the example for the rest of us, right?

 

We also provide pedestals for people whose names aren’t in the “Who’s Who” of society. It might be a parent, sibling, uncle or aunt, a mentor, Sunday school teacher, co-worker or boss. We give them places of honor in our minds, holding them to the loftiest standards. If and when they fall, their crash seems of seismic proportions.

 

A number of folks have toppled from my own imagined pedestals. That was largely my fault, however, since they never asked to be put up there. Hearkening back to my student journalism days at Ohio State, I covered the football team and had the opportunity to interact face-to-face with the legendary Woody Hayes. Sadly, for many people his name evokes the image of an aging coach, in frustration, throwing a punch at a Clemson football player who sealed the Buckeyes’ defeat in a bowl game. Understandably, that was his last day as a football coach. Talk about dropping from a pedestal!

 

Years ago, soon after accepting a job to work in vocational ministry as a magazine editor, I talked with a pastor friend about his experiences in parachurch ministry. Harry offered some valuable advice. He said not to expect to find any perfect people, walking around in flowing robes and hands always folded in piety. “They’ll be normal human beings, filled with flaws just as we are.” How true those words proved to be. 

 

In the Bible, God minces no words about this reality. Romans 3:23, for example, tells us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Earlier in the chapter the writer, the apostle Paul, declares, “There is no one righteous, not even one…” (Romans 3:10). 

 

Years after his dramatic conversion from persecutor of Christians to fervent ambassador for Jesus Christ, Paul still confessed, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me” (7:15-21). Wow! If this was the case for one of Jesus’ foremost apostles, what hope do we have?

 

But that’s the point – apart from the power of Jesus Christ through His indwelling Spirit, we’ll never measure up. As devotional writer Oswald Chambers said, “All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary for the purpose He has given them.”

 

If we’re honest, we won’t want anyone placing us on a pedestal. Even though we may put up a good front, we all struggle inwardly, alternately succeeding and failing to live as we know God wants us to live. The adage, “Do as I say, not as I do,” is a terrible philosophy. It’s better not to point to ourselves at all, but always to Jesus.

 

The apostle might have been addressing this pedestal problem when he rebuked believers in the ancient city of Corinth: “…One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1:11-13).

 

Even today, we find it tempting to become disciples of one compelling preacher or another, accepting their particular theological slant as holy writ. There again, that’s placing them on pedestals extremely unstable at best.

 

Instead, we’d be wise to do as Paul humbly declared, “For I resolved to nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified…. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:2-5). We need only one pedestal, one that’s reserved for the Lord alone. 

Who Are Your Heroes?

When I was growing up in New Jersey, if someone talked about a “hero,” more often than not they were referring to a sandwich, aka “submarine” or “torpedo.” But sometimes I think a sign should appear in the window of someone’s deli that reads: “A real hero is not a sandwich.” Because what our world needs isn’t more sandwiches, but more people whose lives are worth emulating and honoring. Bona fide heroes.

Who comes to mind when you think about a hero? 

These days, “heroes” come in all shapes and sizes. We make heroes of movie and TV stars, even though their achievements – besides being extraordinarily attractive (usually) – mostly consist of being paid lots of money for skills at pretending to be people they’re not, who exist only in fantasy worlds. These same folks keep gossip tabloids in business.

We might choose heroes from athletes renowned for being able to run fast, jump high, tackle hard, throw a ball through a hoop, hit a different kind of ball over a wall, or drive race cars fast around an oval for three or four hours. Even though we know very little about them personally, such as how they act when they’re not competing in their sport, many of us still accord these folks with hero status.

Some of us find heroes among politicians, singers and musicians, best-selling authors, even folks whose videos go viral and become Internet sensations. But just because people become famous for being famous, does that make them genuine heroes? 

This might be one reason “superheroes” have become huge box-office draws – film characters captured from the pages of comic books. We’ve got Superman, Ant Man, Wonder Woman, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Batman, Spiderman, Thor, and many other make-believe personalities with “super powers.” Sadly, since they’re all figments of someone’s imagination. 

More than 2,400 years ago, Greek philosopher Plato offered a perspective on heroes that still resonates today: True heroes, he said, are not the rich and famous, but people characterized by humility, wisdom, and a heart for serving others. 

I think Plato had it right. Aren’t we all drawn to individuals who possess humility, manifest wisdom, and display readiness to serve others when needed? In my lifetime, I’ve been fortunate to encounter a handful of people who fit this description. The most interesting thing about them, though, was common disinterest in being anyone’s hero. They were just going through life, seeking to become the kind of men and women they believed God wanted them to be.

Many of these were committed followers of Jesus, persons whose lives were transformed through their relationship with Him. The Scriptures speak a lot about this. For instance, Proverbs 11:2 declares, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 15:33 gives a similar view: “The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”

The Bible presents us with a collection of individuals we might regard as heroes – Noah, Moses, Samson, David the Goliath killer, apostles Peter and Paul. But when we look at each one closely, we find they all possessed proverbial feet of clay, flawed people whom God used in spite of their shortcomings.

So in our search for heroes, we needn’t look for perfection. If we do, we’ll discover there are no heroes to be found. The folks who have impressed me most through the years have recognized their imperfections. This awareness increased their reliance upon Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

The apostle Paul, for instance, never forgot his past sins and acknowledged his weaknesses. But those didn’t stop him from pursuing his God-given calling with zeal. He wrote, “…there was given me a thorn in the flesh…. Three times I pleased with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me…. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Underscoring his dependence upon Christ for living out his faith, regardless of his circumstances, Paul also wrote, “I can do everything through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Ultimately, only Jesus Himself is deserving of being called a hero, having shown us not only how to live – but also how to die. And how to experience new life through His Spirit. If we desire to make a lasting difference through our lives, an eternal difference, we should cultivate the same reliance that Paul did. Because, as Jesus said, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

In our search for heroes, the best candidates are those who understand this.

The Best Heroes Are Long Gone

Have you ever been disappointed by someone you greatly admired? Felt let down by actions or words of an individual who represented everything you regarded good and noble?

A pastor friend hosts a weekly study group called “The Dead Theologians Society.” Each morning attendees read and discuss a book by a theologian from centuries past. Current spiritual leaders are never considered. Why? Because participants won’t have to worry about whether their subjects will appear in tomorrow’s news, accused of some moral failure, ethical breach or other disgrace. They’re all long gone.

Growing up in New Jersey, 40 miles from New York City, I was an ardent Yankee fan. My hero was celebrated slugger Mickey Mantle, Oklahoma’s golden boy. In my eyes, the sun rose and set on “The Mick.”

That, however, was before the Internet and 24/7 sports coverage. Years later, books revealed Mickey and his Yankee pals were famous partiers. Who knows how many afternoons he nursed an acute hangover in centerfield, probably unable to see a fastball, let alone hit one. Maybe that’s why he struck out so much.

Today, players of Mickey’s ilk are routinely exposed in the news, blogs, talk shows. A celebrity can’t hiccup without having it reported somewhere.

Last week Jim Tressel, Ohio State’s widely admired and respected head football coach, confessed to withholding information about players. Their misdeeds weren’t criminal, but against NCAA regulations just the same. Today, Tressel’s integrity is under severe scrutiny; values he’s espoused are being questioned. Pedestals have an annoying habit of toppling, no matter who’s on them.

I’m not here to defend Coach Tressel. I certainly don’t have all the facts – although I doubt his fiercest critics do either. But his situation underscores the warning from 1 Corinthians 10:12, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.”

We tend to exalt leaders in prominence, from the President to athletic coaches to corporate executives. Then, like circling sharks, attack when they fall. Why are we ever surprised?

All we have to do is look to another Bible passage for the grim reality: “There is no one righteous, not even one…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10, 23).

My suggestion? If you’re looking for a hero, choose a dead one. Then he or she can’t grieve you with any more mistakes.