I have set out to write on this subject before, but always ended up stepping away from it.  After all, heroism is a weighty matter to sort out, and should not be handled flippantly.  Our culture has increasingly shied away from recognizing, or at least acknowledging, true heroism in favor of antiheroes, who validate our desires to deviate from absolute truth.  The most glaring recent example is ESPN's decision to honor Bruce Jenner with it's courage award, an award intended to recognize the most courageous person in the world of sports each year.  In case you didn't know, Jenner's courageous act was to be enlightened enough to not know whether he is in fact male or female.  Others include Rolling Stone magazine's glamorous cover featuring terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Goddard College's invitation to Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is famous in some circles for having murdered a police officer, to speak at its graduation ceremony.  Lt. Col. Allen West wrote an excellent article, "Choose your Hero to Confront Jihad", on this same subject which I highly recommend that you read at allenwestrepublic.com. The essence of this crisis was captured by John Perry, whose biographical work, Sgt.York, I read recently.  Speaking of our ability to correctly identify heroism, he wrote:

"The opposing force, stronger now than ever, is a culture that discourages heroism.  While we crave it as always, heroism, so rare in the first place, has become increasingly difficult to find.  A society that embraces relativism and multiculturalism is hard pressed to produce a hero.  If every view of the world is equally acceptable, there can be no absolute standards of bravery, sacrifice, patriotism, faith, truth, fairness, fidelity, and honor.  And without absolutes, there can be no heroes"  (Perry, 331).

When the qualities that make a hero are being undermined and rejected, then the trends mentioned above begin to appear.

As always, the first, final and perfect word on the matter belongs to the Lord.  Romans 6:20-21 reads:  "...when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.  What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed?  For the end of those things is death."  Here, God establishes that not all ways of life, beliefs and values are equal.  You might notice the scarcity of Floridians launching makeshift rafts in the dead of night, braving almost certain death in the hope that they'll wash up in Cuba.

Hebrews 13:7 teaches us to "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith."  Here, the Lord distinguishes His way of life as the universal best.  He even asks us to observe and see for ourselves the outcomes of the lives of those who have trusted Him.

Gentlemen, in a world that refuses to acknowledge and even scoffs at heroism, teach your children what heroism is.  And, what better way than to live it out ourselves?

Perry, John.  Sgt. York.  Nashville:  Broadman &Holman Publishers, 1997.