Everybody wants to be a hero. We want to be the hero for our children or in our company or maybe in our community. It’s a natural desire but pushed to the extreme it can do more harm than good.
When we have this hero complex, what often happens is that we do not allow others to shine. Much has been published about helicopter parenting and the negative effects of solving all your children’s problems for them. Our children can only actualize their full potential if we are willing to step down from the pedestal of needing to be idolized and allow them to rise to the challenges of life. Self-esteem comes from observing yourself achieve something that was not easy to accomplish. This growth in our children is what we sacrifice when we put on our cape and swoop in.
The same is true in other arenas. The old adage is true; “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Heroism shies away from giving away the secret of your success. Instead of focusing on empowering others we perpetuate a dependency on ourselves so that we are always the ones who get the accolades. This has been the strategy of successive governments in Trinidad and Tobago and it has been to the detriment of the country. The message on the political platform in some form or other has been, “Choose us. We will save you.” I eagerly await the day when some courageous leader will transform the dialogue from dependency to empowerment.
Another arena that is a passion of mine is the church. Many church leaders have also devotedly perpetuated this dependence syndrome in their congregations. Instead of teaching everyone how to hear from God and interpret scripture for themselves there has been a sick ultimate leader syndrome that discourages respectful disagreement or independent thought. Blind obedience is glorified and taking the initiative is discouraged as causing confusion or being overly-zealous. Of course, the need to covet glory for ourselves is part of the unsanctified human condition that has reared its head from since the early days of the church until now. Religious men have always set themselves up as THE middleman to God. Instead every pastor, elder and priest should be consistently and earnestly pointing everyone to Christ. “Do not depend on me, depend on God alone. Don’t look to me to solve your problems and give you guidance. Look to God.” This should be the message. There should be a constant redirection of worship and dependence and glory to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
In THE story; the unfolding epic saga of the whole universe for all time, in my humble estimation, there is only one hero who deserves all the glory and His name is Jesus Christ! He is the real hero!
