Great post Gavin! It is definitely an issue that needs to be talked about, especially in the light of Mark Driscoll’s visit to Australia and his obvious hero status among many young Christian men (myself included). I think we need heroes of the Faith to inspire us, just like the apostle Paul who said ‘imitate me as I imitate Christ’, but we must always realize that their ability and gifts come from God, and to Him belongs the praise.

Zac

Thanks for a great post Gavin.
Given the examples you cite, the chances of being a hero seem to improve with death and distance.

Gav, some interesting stuff.  Did remind me of a discussion that Justin has been having AGAINST heroes over here: http://moffattnyc.blogspot.com/2008/09/cult-of-personality-emptying-cross-of.html

I wonder if the danger comes from our own ungodliness - unable to rightly honour the man without worshipping him rather than God.

When speaking of Timothy and Epaphroditus, Paul told the Philippians to “honour such men”. Of course, if the Philippians were Australians they would interpret that as “Make every effort to cut them down (by informal joking) to bloody well ensure they don’t think they’re better than they are.”

Thanks Gav,

Another thought I had for avoiding Corinthian hero worship: the instruction Paul gives the Corinthians in 1 Cor 11:1 ... we follow our ‘here’ as they follow Christ.  In other words, appreciating them shouldn’t make us want to be like them; it should make us want to be like Christ like they are wanting to be like Christ.  It’s also reflected in the relationship between all the OT ‘heroes’ of faith in Heb 11, and how we should respond in Heb 12:1-3, which is that since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses we should fix our eyes on Jesus.

It’s the old character study error: people look at Moses for concrete tips on how to be a more effective leader of God’s people (e.g., appointing capable men to leader over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens in Exod 18) rather than as an example of obediently trusting God’s promises, which will be the thing that helps us grow in our most holy faith, and therefore grow as a leader of God’s people.  The danger is the I end up wanting to be more like Moses for who he is, rather than wanting to be more like Moses as a man who faithfully followed the Lord.

A separate issue, at the risk of being a bit nitpicky ... perhaps even the language of ‘here’ is inherently Corinthian, and therefore worldly???  I remember a conversation with a great old saint at church who has spoken on the topic of ‘heroes’, and his thought that the notion itself is quite anti-Christian, at least in the first century world.  But in the way you’ve unpacked it, I understand what you mean, and I probably use the language that way myself sometimes.