Jesus is My Hero

WHY IS JESUS YOUR HERO?

I sat on a god-awful uncomfortable chair at Asbury Theological Seminary in Lexington, Kentucky. I was wrapping up the last year of my doctorate in creating missional communities. To be fair, the chair was probably comfortable; I just had a bad back at the time, so any chair that I was required to sit in for over an hour at a time made me miserable. But I digress. The guest speaker was Mike Frost, an internationally known missiologist and author. He told the thirty or so of us in the room a story that radically changed the way I "do" church.

Mike Frost told us about how he had preached somewhere in Australia, where a young twenty-something came up to him and said, "You make Jesus sound like he is your hero." To which Mike replied, "That is because he is." When the kid asked why, the senior pastor at that church butted in and said, "Can I answer that one?" Mike was happy to oblige since this kid would likely go to this church and wanted this pastor to connect with this young man.

The pastor begins to answer this profoundly essential question as to why Jesus was a hero. And the pastor blew it—big time! He started by saying, "You know, in the beginning…." He begins with Adam and Eve and how sin entered the world. He talked about pain and suffering. Mike noticed how this young man's eyes were beginning to glaze over. He was losing interest. Again, probably one of the most critical questions to ever ask—Why is Jesus your hero?—and this pastor was blowing it. By the time he got to Jesus dying on the cross, the kid was already gone mentally.

Mike Frost then looked at us and with his fiery Australian accent, said, "People need to know why Jesus is your hero!" He then challenged us. He said, "Can you tell me right now why Jesus is your hero? And you cannot say that he died for your sins!"

Ouch! Now that's not nice to say to a room full of pastors. That is our go-to! Jesus is my hero because he died for my sins! What was worse, it was kind of embarrassing. For a full minute or more, this room of more than thirty pastors from places across the world just sat in silence.

Why is Jesus my hero?

Why is Jesus my hero? We sat in silence, thinking.

After a while, we gathered our thoughts and for the rest of the class shared why Jesus was our hero without mentioning he died for our sins. It was a fun exercise to do and one I would recommend to any church. To hear so many people explain why Jesus is their hero and to realize that so many had reasons that were not my own was powerful. It made me see Jesus in a different light, and it made me understand Scripture in a new way as well.

That night, laying on the little twin-sized bed in the dorm room on campus—well—if you can call it twin-size. Is there a size smaller than a twin? Maybe a crib? I don't know, but it was itty bitty! Laying on the bed, it became clear as day. The reason we are inclined to invite people to church than tell them about Jesus is because we don’t understand why he’s our hero. For most of that night, I lay there—with my feet hanging off the end—wondering how I could change the culture of our church when for the longest time, I made the church buildings and programs the main thing.

Most churches build a culture around their buildings or programs—or, worse—the lead pastor. What if we decided right here and now to create a culture where Jesus is our hero? What if we create a culture in which we cannot wait to come to church to hear stories about our hero through the preaching of the word? What if we cannot wait to sing to our hero through music? What if we create a culture in which we cannot wait to reconnect with people whose hero is the same as ours? What if we are thrilled to meet in small groups as we share, talk, and do life more deeply with others as we get to know our hero better? What if, in this culture, we make it a habit to come early on Sunday mornings to help set up and serve, on the chance that someone will come to visit who doesn't know Jesus as their hero but will hear about why he is ours? What if, in this culture, we cannot wait to go into our communities and neighborhoods so we can share with our neighbors, our coworkers, or friends why Jesus is our hero? Imagine a culture that brings us delight to feel the presence of God in our lives. A culture where God constantly shows us that others are hurting and broken and need of a hero and that we have what it takes to heal them by telling them about Jesus.

Suppose we cannot answer the question as to why Jesus is our hero (without saying he died for our sins). In that case, we will be hard-pressed to have what it takes to build up a culture in our churches to make any lasting change. Oh sure, you will have several come and visit your church. Your church may even grow a little in attendance, but will it make any lasting impact on your community? Will it make any lasting impact on the members of that church? It is time we stop making the church our hero and begin to worship Jesus as the hero that he is.