Men, real men, are always being called to be heroes in practically every area of their lives….whether they want to be or not, and whether they like it or not. Man, as appointed by God Almighty, was the finest and last created creature in the Garden of Eden. Man was created out of the dust of the earth. God saw that all of His work was very good and then He rested on the seventh or sabbath day of Creation. God created a perfect and perfectly balanced and ordered world.
It was from that very first week of the Created Universe and all that is in or on it, that God’s “batting order” was clearly established. Man was to be the head of all earthly things. It is from this designation as the head, that God gave man the full and total responsibility to provide for, care for, and protect all that He had created for him.
After God saw that Adam was lonely and was needy of another full personal relationship with another human being, He created Eve (out of Adam) so that she could become the “completer” of her man. Hence became the two most important God-given roles for the first two humans on this earth.
There can only be one head to any effective and successfully operating body. Anything with two heads is a “freak” and will never operate and function as God originally designed, or as properly and effectively as it should.
Leaders of people are a must if there is to be order out of chaos. Order is what God is all about. Order keeps things in balance and eliminates the meandering of the masses. Order guides and directs human activity and helps establish proper environments for productive human efforts, performance, and accomplishments.
Leaders often times develop from “Heroes.” Heroes are the ones who rise up to the specific occasion or situation and take over operations and their related problems and/or challenges. Heroes solve problems quickly and effectively and always attract some sort of following as they take charge and resolve issues or menacing barriers to desired progress. Real men are the ones who become leaders. Real men are the ones who quickly recognize existing problems or areas needing attention or solution, and then immediately swing into action.
Men are called to be heroes in all kinds of different ways both big and small in every area of their lives, namely, work, play, war, civic life, family life, spiritual life, and prayer life…..every area…without exception. Regardless of the reason, situation, or predicament, a real man will always take immediate and appropriate action whenever it is called for or absolutely required. Whether a man takes up his sword, a ball, a plow, a gavel, a position, a child, or his Bible, he must always do it in the correct and proper manner in which he has been called to do so,….in the ways and means as a real man which is “the way” he has been called to act.
It always seems that a real man, one who other people quickly recognize as a hero or leader or both, is always admired for his displayed action, courage, compassion, and good sense of what deserves to be loved or protected. Real men always really care.
Throughout our colorful and battle hardened history, there have always been heroes for young boys to observe, study, and emulate. It most usually begins at home in what they observe from their own fathers. Other heroes come from those fine examples of great men of achievement or accomplishment in any and all other fields of endeavor: athletes, movie stars, cartoon characters, adventurers, military leaders, politicians, philosophers, entertainers, authors, religious leaders, law enforcement officers, business tycoons, men or women in positions of authority, and the like. In nearly all such circumstances, which assist a young boy in choosing an appropriate type of example to be his hero, there appears to be some very common ground. The heroes of young boys are usually those men who display or demonstrate a certain nobility, a largeness of soul, or a connecting or linking up of one’s own purposes beyond self. Other attracting characteristics of a youth’s specified hero would include committed longevity to leadership, demanded endurance or sacrifice or sustained courage, resolution, determination, or compassion. The real “bond” between a young impressionable boy and his selected hero has in it some sort of nurturing element because the youth shared with his hero a certain sense of that which deserved to be loved and preserved.
Heroes should be those people, men or women, who, for the girls and boys, are the ones who possess and actively portray the qualities of human excellence, performance, and behavior that are worth imitating and striving for.
Heroes don’t always need to be people who live, exist, and perform at a great physical distance from a young man or woman. Oh no, heroes can very easily come from places very close to the proximity of the youth in search of a hero. They can be close personal friends, neighbors, and even members of their own immediate family.
If you were to take a survey among junior-high school students today and ask the question “Who is your hero?” sadly, I would tell you that the most frequent answer from the students would be…“nobody”…or…“I don’t have any heroes.” Positions or occupations of those people most youthful students admire today seem to be those which are termed rock music stars, professional athletes in trouble with the laws of the land, science-fiction cartoon type characters, rebellious movie stars, corrupt politicians, and the like,….rebels in every sense of the word.
It just seems like today among our youth as well as our adult population, heroes are out of fashion or are nonexistent. Such a fad is extremely dangerous because it puts children’s ideals, aspirations, and their notions about self-worth and self-esteem in great jeopardy. For any society to thrive and prosper and grow to higher levels of production and achievement, children need to know what deserves to be emulated, duplicated, loved, and nurtured. Knowledge of these values does not pass through the gene pool. It is not a natural passage of these characteristics through new birth. Learning, knowing, and applying these type character traits can only pass from one generation to another through education and by living example from generation to generation. Author and biblical scholar, C.S. Lewis said it well, when he stated, “the task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts.”
So just as is fully known as the truth of life that the only thing that God can use to make a man is…a little boy, so is the factual statement that the only person qualified and capable on the human level to teach and train up a little boy as to how he can become a real man is… another bona-fide, fully operational, well trained, and functional Real Man. Hopefully that man is the boy’s biological father, who just happens to be the boy’s best friend and hero. That is always the way and manner that it all works best!
Be A Real Man and Always Act Like One……..