Mark 6:3

"Who does he think he is?"

Who are your Heroes?

• For my little cousin, it’s Batman and Harry Potter.
• For my other cousin, it’s Poppy from the New Trolls Movie.
• For me, it’s Einstein, Messi, and Lecrae.
• For my brother, it’s Goku, Naruto, and few others.

All these guys listed above are great. Some of them are fictional, and it’s fine to use myth and legend as a source of inspiration and a tool to relay valuable life lessons and insight. Some of them are real flesh and blood humans, but are people that we don’t know and probably never will.

If we did meet them, I think we would find that they are just as human and as normal as we are. We idolize those outside of our sphere of relationship because it's easy. No relationship means no mess. Ou imagination fills in the blanks. You can admire what you see and hear from afar and not have to get mixed up in everything else.

Have your distant heroes; be inspired and heartened by them. Look to them for hope and guidance and joy. But don’t let your esteem for them blind you to the hero right beside you. And the one within, too.

There are heroes amongst us. Those who are daring and strong and courageous right under our noses. They can be hard to see because of the messiness of relationship and the feelings that familiarity breeds; but they’re there.

They're here.

We keep Jesus at a distance - on the God pedestal - because it’s easier for us to label him as a “hero” if he stays right where we want him. I wonder what we would see if we got up close? If we embrace his humanity as well as his divinity?

You’ve heard the phrase, “You should never meet your heroes…” you might be disappointed by what you find, see and hear. I’ve experienced this on both ends: I’ve been disappointed, and I’ve disappointed others (I’m not calling myself a hero!!). I don’t think the problem is with the hero’s humanity. I think the problem is that we box people into what we think we want out of them and miss getting what we need: humanity, connection, openness. An opportunity to learn and grow.

Distant heroes that we admire from afar are cool. They’re helpful. And they lead to some pretty great dreams. But up close, friendly, familiar heroes? Those are the stories that have the power to transform us:

The refugee living next door, breaking through the language barrier, sharing with you what they have, doing all they can for their children.

The woman battling cancer like a love warrior for the third (or any) time.

The child holding their head up high in the face of a bully.

The dad going to his kid's soccer game in the freezing cold (the struggle is real, y’all).

The man who has the courage to forgive his alcoholic father.

The person who has the courage to forgive themselves.

The grandma who bakes cookies for all her friends at Christmas time.

The older sister who’s been left to raise her younger siblings.

The daughter who holds her mum as she cries.

The son who pays the electricity bill because his parents have no money.

And if you look inside yourself. (Yes, you!) You’ll find acts of heroism within you, too. It might not look or sound like the legends of old. But real heroes rarely do. They are those who continue to love and serve their friends, family, and neighbors as best they can no matter who’s paying attention. The crowds who want more from us than that have missed the point entirely, just like they did with Jesus back in Mark 6 where they said:

“He’s just a carpenter—Mary’s boy. We’ve known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers, James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he is?” Mark 6:3 (NKJV).

Who do you think you are?

It doesn’t matter so much what everyone else thinks, as long as you know the truth:

Within you lies an ordinary, every day, miraculous hero.