I saw a hero once

With Jack Bauer being used for national security policy and Dr. House being the man we want NOT holding our hand on the surgical table, it's hard work looking for heroes today.  Sure, there's the TV show, but even those guys start looking a little like villains (at least Sylar had vision!)

Good news: a tragic hero isn't anything new!  Heroes have always had a ruined side and nature.  Well before Tony Stark was a womanizer, Samson ruined things.  Bad news: civilization isn't where it could be.  But more on that in a minute.

Consider the system of Judges for a second; the people sinned then cried out, God raised up a judge, s/he rallied the people and drove out the oppressor, and a time of peace came as they followed God.  But the system keeps devolving; the people don't rally, the hero stops before deliverance becomes full, the peace isn't seen. 

This really is seen best in Samson's story.  He walks away from his Nazarite ways, he is opposed by Judah, he deals only moderate blows to the Phillistines, and talk of peace and freedom remains talk.  There never was a more (super)naturallly gifted judge than Samson, yet he did the least.  Go with the screaming contrast of Gideon "the whiner".  He followed beautifully, the result: 40 years of rest, a full cycle of peace for the people.  Samson's big result: a woman who got a payday while he got a hair cut and learned about structural engineering.

Good news: God gets involved and sets things right.  Bad news: we push our agenda forward and the cycle begins again.  So what marks the difference between the tragedy and the victory?  How do we keep following and stop leading? 

Simple: Matt 6:9-13

Ever sit back and wonder what it means for God's will to be done on Earth like Heaven?  Heaven is typified by it's peace; no more tears, no more goodbyes, no war... This is probably because Heaven (I haven't been there, but I hear it's nice) is where everyone follows God's will.  Follows, not leads.

I love CS Lewis often made point in The Screwtape Letters, faithfulness not success is our goal in being Christians.  I saw a hero once who did this.  He died and three days later he came back.  I like him a lot.