As I've remarked before, I'm all about the hero... the guy who swoops in to save the day. And I think God made us to be that way, men... to be the savior... the guy with the cape and symbol on his chest to save the damsel in distress, as it were.
There is an immense dichotomy, however, regarding what a true hero is in the light of scripture.
The Apostle Paul talks about this in this passage...
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses" (2 Corinthians 12:2 - 9).
The Hebrews believed in three heavens... the sky above us where the clouds roam (known as 'the firmament' in scripture), the place where the stars dwell (outer space) and actual Heaven... the dwelling place of God. God's dwelling place is the 'Third Heaven' Paul is referring to here.
Paul saw things that were unimaginable. However, God saw the potential in Paul for pride because of what he saw (theologian that he was), so a literal demon was given to him to pummel his physical body... something he asked God to take away... three times! But, God evidently deemed it proper to leave this demonic entity in Paul's life to keep him from falling according to pride... in the same way Satan originally had (Isaiah 14:3 - 20).
Paul follows the above passage up with this astounding statement... "That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (II Corinthians 12:10 - NIV).
The hard part about walking in the Kingdom, guys, is that God is more pleased when we surrender the areas we have strength in to Him... and function in areas we may not be too strong in.
It's hard for us to do such a thing, because we want to be those warriors who defeat the foe. And we fantasize about physically thwarting some evil thing that threatens our family or a loved one.
Scripture explains the way we get to vanquish the real foes in our lives... on our knees.
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (II Corinthians 10:3 - 5 - NIV).
The most effective thing we can do as men who love our families, friends, acquaintances, etc., is to spend time every day warring over issues we and they are facing... through prayer.
Are you the hero, men? Warriors in your family and workplace? As Mary Jane Watson would say to Spidey... "Go get 'em, Tiger!"
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