Heroes are... one of the most important pieces of literature. And are vital aspects of life in general.
Think of one of your favorite books or a classic that has spanned the space of time - I'm guessing that it has a hero. Frodo from Lord of the Rings. Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia. Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. Maximus from The Gladiator - the list could go on and on with movies and books and plays.
No matter what genre of literature, what time period or setting, good literature and good movies have heroes.
And yet our society has recently had a very depressing lack of heroes. The world around us often turns everyone into a hero, no matter if their actions are heroic or not, and when everyone is a hero... no one is.
I believe that current literature is missing heroes - missing this important and vital piece of the structure of storytelling. Missing this chance to leave our readers with a message and a conviction, and maybe even missing the whole point of a hero.
Jesus is the ultimate hero, and all heroes are grounded in Who He was. By taking them out of our stories and our society, we lose the ability to point people to Him... and sometimes, lose Him entirely.
And it's not just in stories. The world around us is determined to undermine the true meaning of a hero and instead glorify anyone who is submitting to their agendas, no matter if their actions are truly heroic or not.
That's not just something we can sit by and let happen.
Our lives and our stories are missing something, a piece of human nature that is vital to everything we do. And I believe that if we can add this character back to our stories we will be able to have so much more power and impact with our words.
But what defines a hero? What sets them apart - and why are they so vital? How can we turn our characters into true heroes that point to Jesus?