Hot take: We human beings are created with the desire to worship.

We see examples of it everywhere – we worship the guy who can run fast and jump high. We worship people who pretend to be other people for a living. We worship pastors, CEOs, politicians and even fictional comic book characters – because we all have this desire for a hero.

I picture heroes as a sort of shelf to rest a part of ourselves. We allow this thing to be a foundation – become a part of our identity because we need something greater than ourselves. Back in the Old Testament days the Israelites wanted a hero to worship so they decided to make their own out of gold. We too mold together shiny and pretty things and then put it up on a pedestal and the world makes sense for a while.

But every hero in the world will always fail us.

When we realize our heroes are broken beings, our foundation cracks. We’re angry they can’t fly with the wings we made for them. We put them up on a pedestal and so we throw them down into the mud.

We’re going through a culture change now in America.

When I was younger the message was about compartmentalization. “OK, they are a bad parent or spouse and yes have questionable morals in their private life but WOW are they a good singer….athlete… president…”

Back in the day we wanted to believe in the fantasy of a split moral personality. That you could be a hero in the world and then keep your moral failings in shadow where no one need look. It seems silly now.

Now, we see daily headlines of the latest heroes to be stripped of their capes. We find a failing in them and they are banished from the town square. Out, damn spot!

Today, we want to believe the fantasy that we can actually heal ourselves through amputation and not through medication.

The Bible teaches that every one of us is broken. We are heroes and we are villains combined. All of us without exception are sick and we need a healing that comes from inside. This does not mean we should tolerate the darkness around us. No, we fend off the darkness with whatever spark we have but we do it with the humility of knowing that we ourselves are no different than the people who we consider villains.

It’s one of the more difficult truths I face as a Christian – the people I want to despise, my God tells me to love – even when they don’t deserve it.

Ugh, I screw that up every damn day – but I have faith that I can rest on a foundation that will not fail me.

I still believe in healing.

I still believe in a Hero for humanity.