Wanderman in the Wilderness

God's word applied in the world.

Do You Call Yourself A Hero? Be Careful!

I need a hero…I’m holding out for a hero ’til the end of the night…He’s gotta be strong…And he’s gotta be fast…and he probably just stole that lady’s purse! Wait, what? That’s not how “Holding Out For A Hero” goes. Heroes don’t steal from people they are saving, do they?

Well, you might have heard the story of Chris Parker by now. He was hailed as a “hero” following the terrorist attack in Manchester at the Ariana Grande concert. In the moments after Salman Ramadan Abedi’s suicide bomb killed 22 and injured over 100 others, Parker sprung into action. He helped comfort several victims, and he even held one woman as she was dying.

At least that is what he told the media. Parker, who is homeless, said he was begging in the arena when the blast went off. His instincts were to run, but he headed in to help people. His story made the news, and a GoFundMe campaign was started to reward him. Approximately $71,000 was raised.

The money was not handed over, though, before the Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras showed what really happened that day. Chris Parker rushed in to help all right, just not the victims. He “helped” himself to a purse, a phone, and several other items, and then used their credit cards in the following days!

It can be hard to know who the real heroes are. “Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). But we would all do well to remember that God judges each of us for our deeds (Romans 2:6). Chris Parker had great things to say about himself, but when the truth was revealed, it was a very different story.

Do you “spin” your behavior as heroic when you know it really wasn’t? Beware.

“For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends” (2 Corinthians 10:18). Look to the true hero, the Lord Jesus, today. God commends those who remain faithful in Him, saying, “well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

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