But what struck me yesterday, even more than Armstrong's fall from his pedestal, was the glee with which it was witnessed. And the theme of these celebrations? "I knew he was too good to be true!"
How sad.
I'm struck by the tendency in our society to celebrate the mediocre and to take exception to the exceptional. By how quick we are to cheer when heroes fall, and to make heroes of the merely present.
It's been suggested that the real problem is simply that we're putting too much on these human beings. That our heroes are simply too fallible. I think it goes much deeper than that.
Jesus -- God incarnate -- was a perfect man. He taught compassion, and love, and grace. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and encouraged His followers to do the same. He was a good man, by any standard. A great man to anyone actually paying attention. Greater than great.
We murdered Him.
And before that, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were relentless in their attempts to get him to slip up. To prove Him a fraud.
Why?
The truth is, excellence makes us uncomfortable. Perfection serves to throw into deep contrast our own failings and shortcomings. Man, we hate that. So we find heroes from among the masses. We lift them up. And then we start pulling at the chinks in the armor and wait for it to come apart.
Perfectly natural, I suppose, if you aren't in Christ. But we who are in Him have motivation to strive for more. Colossians 3:17 reminds us, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." And further down, we see what that looks like:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Col. 3:23-24)
Maybe our earthly heroes fall. But shouldn't we, who know our works are meant to glorify our Creator, strive not for the mediocrity which satisfies the rest of the world, but for the excellence to which we are called?
