One of my childhood
sports heroes was named Julius Erving, more famously known as “Dr. J.” I recall
him playing for the Philadelphia 76ers back in the late 70’s and 80’s, wowing
basketball fans with his artistic style and signature flying “slam” dunks.
But all heroes have
flaws. While excelling and innovating on the hardwood floor, Dr. J’s personal
life reveals a disappointing history of adulterous affairs, children born out
of wedlock, divorce, deception, heartache, and turmoil. I still marvel at what
he did with a basketball in his hands, but his status as a hero has been
tainted.
I think about civil
rights champion Martin Luther King, Jr. Perhaps no one has furthered the cause
of racial equality in America more than King. His status as a hero is
well-etched in the American tale, but King is not without personal flaws as
well, including widespread accounts of adultery, along with a bad cigarette smoking
habit.
And dare I say in
this neck of the woods that even our national beloved hero Abraham Lincoln was
a man with flaws? By all accounts, his marriage was a mess, he battled with
what we would today call clinical depression, and at least one writer records
that Lincoln had a penchant for dirty jokes. And that’s not even including some
of the decisions he made as President with which many found fault. Yet we hail
him today as the “Great Emancipator,” and without his leadership in a critically
turbulent time this nation would not be what it is today.
Even when you look
in the Bible, narratives about the personal failures of the greatest heroes on
the biggest stages abound. “Father” Abraham twice lied about his wife and
fathered a child with her Egyptian servant. The legendary Israelite deliverer
Moses killed a man and tried to hide the body. The revered king David
infamously committed adultery and then had her husband killed, among other
sins. And the list could go run long and ugly.
What’s the point? It’s
this: there’s not a man nor woman who’s ever walked the face of this planet
whose life is truly worthy of our highest praise or emulation, despite their great
achievements or inspiring passions – save one. His name is Jesus.
Only Jesus lived a
flawless life in faultless obedience to the righteous will of His holy Father
in heaven. Only Jesus shows us perfectly how to love one another, how to live
in peace and harmony with one another, how to have joy inexpressible and hope
unshakeable, and how to find abundant life.
Only Jesus stepped down
from heaven into our world to carry out the ultimate rescue mission that would
save our souls from eternal death and give us everlasting life. Only Jesus
cleanses our sin-stained hearts and makes them white as snow, by the shedding
of His blood on the cross. Only Jesus triumphed in victory over death and hell,
by His own resurrection from the grave on the third day. And only Jesus
provides new life to all who repent from sins and turn to Him in faith.
“I am the way, and
the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” Jesus
declared in John 14:6.
Dear friend, it’s
not too late for you to come to Jesus. Each of these earthly “heroes” I’ve
mentioned, flaws and all, were still men whom God loved compassionately, whom
God has forgiven freely in Christ, and whom God has used mightily in this
world. Why not make Jesus the true Hero in your life by trusting Him today?
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