The Evil of Hero Worship

Jeremy Walker (00:07):

And welcome back again to The Last Kingdom. I'm your host, Jeremy Walker. This is episode number 23 for September 20th, 2024, and the name of this episode is entitled The Evil of Hero Worship. On this episode, we'll be discussing the tendency of men to place other men on lofty pedestals above themselves and others. And also the ridiculous nature of being shocked and even outraged when such men fall from their pedestals and reveal they're just, well, men like the rest of us.

(00:51):

We're going to be doing a bit of a quick fire content today. We'll be discussing various current news events and topics. And going on in the world, and we can give a Christian reconstruction viewpoint and outlook on such things. And so this episode in this podcast is always dedicated to one thing, discussing faith, family, and the future. So let's go ahead and let's get started with our main focus being on the concept and the title of this episode, the Evil of Hero Worship.

(01:23):

So I want to start with this topic and this idea because again, this week something dramatic happened in the news of the world. And this was of course in the Christian communities. Another very famous, well-experienced pastor caught in a inappropriate quote-unquote relationship with a woman that was not his wife. Now this was shocking to the whole world, and that's what this episode is going to be discussing and about, the evils of hero worship. Why should anybody be surprised? If we run down the history of the Bible, all the biblical characters that we tout as heroes of the faith and are called saints in the book of Hebrews, their lives are not sin-free. Absolutely not. In fact, they're deliberately written out for us so we can understand their failures and their successes and learn from them. Let's run down just a list here of a few heroes of the faith and some of the problems that they had that we have on record. And would be, if it happened today, a leader in the Christian community that did such things and plastered across social media. "Oh, my gosh. Look what so-and-so did. Let's all be shocked."

(02:50):

Well, first of all, we had Adam, who lived in paradise who could not obey God. He just decided he did not want to, wanted to be God himself and condemned the rest of mankind to a fallen nature and a fallen world. Noah, just right after he got off the ark, being God's chosen man amongst all the peoples of the world. Plants a vineyards and gets plastering drunk and naked in his own home, to the point that his children have to come in and dress him because he is stark naked. Abraham, of course, he marries multiple women instead of just staying with his wife, listening to God. His wife tells him to take on a second woman. And of course this is going to fix God's promise and make everything better, so he does. And so he takes on multiple women here, not an okay thing to do.

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Jacob did a similar thing. He took on multiple wives. In this case he had four. He had sisters as well, and his sons murder and wipe out an entire village of men. What was done about that? Nothing. Didn't do anything about it. No repercussions happened to the sons as they wiped out an entire city of people.

(04:09):

We had Judah, of course, who is the Lion of Christ and Judah, well he. On his vacations, on his time off from being a shepherd, decided to find a prostitute in a nearby town and sleep with her and pay her. Well it just so happens that that prostitute was his daughter-in-law in disguise. Did not know it, and impregnates her as well. Now this is supposed to be the Lion of Christ and it was. But these scandals, imagine such things. Senior pastor impregnates daughter-in-law. This is the kind of level that really happened in the Bible.

(04:50):

You had the 10 brothers who sold their brother into slavery. Imagine if that happened today. 10 elders today sell off young boy to foreigners. Then you had of course Samson, which was one of my favorite stories in the Bible, and where he of course is marrying an ungodly pagan Philistine. And then of course he goes to war with the Philistines, which was part of God's plan. But during this whole thing, he's spending time with prostitutes in the cities. And then of course even with Delilah, which of course is not a wife at all. And you know the story if you've read it.

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We had the story of Eli, the prophet who took care of Samuel when he was a child and he allowed his sons who were priests to seduce the women who came to sacrifice and sleep with them. Imagine a senior pastor and his board of elders who are his sons, and as the women are coming to church to worship God and to hear the message of God, they're taking them in the back in the prayer room and sleeping with them.

(05:54):

This is the level of which these things took place. And I could go on to continue to cite passage after passage, person after person, and the sins that we have recorded. It's ad nauseam. It goes on and on and on. I bring all that up because we should stop being shocked by such things. That's right. We should not be shocked when men sin like men, including Christians. There are people who are converted, who are the people of God, the saints of God, but we are not, Christians are not above sin. It is a thing we should be very scared of falling into. And I was happy to see that people were posting Bible verses on social media as this pastor fell from his lofty position and the sad idol worship that people had placed upon him, which was undeserved of any man. To look to another man being higher than ourselves, because we're all the same.

(06:57):

And they were saying, well, the Bible verse along the lines of we should be careful because we're all subject to life type things and passions. Which is all true. The biggest problem I have isn't that people sin or that they are found to have fallen in sin. Anybody can do it, happens all the time. We could sit here and talk about all the famous pastors down through the ages who have been found to do such things. But what really is the problem for me is the Christian Church's reaction to such sins. They really cheapen. They cheapen the sin as if adultery is not really that big of a thing. It's like burping in public or passing gas in an elevator. It's something that is, shouldn't be done in civilized areas, but it's really not that big a deal if you just apologize. Because the pastor, and this happens to every time this happens, especially in churches in Christian communities where adultery is happening. They'll say, "Well, he acknowledges his faults and his sins and feels sorry for them. He feels sorry for how he's defamed himself and his family and his children and his church, and of course Christ above all."

(08:14):

That's all fine and dandy. That's great. I'm glad you feel bad. But it's sad whenever you have pagan civil governments, like governors, like in Texas a long time ago where George Bush was the governor of Texas and a woman was guilty of murder. I believe it was she murdered her husband if I recall correctly. And she found Christ, she was sorry and she apologized for the whole thing. She acknowledged her horrible evil sins, and she understood what she did was wrong and felt bad about it. But she had found Jesus.

(08:52):

Well, Governor Bush at the time had a better sense of Christianity than the church does today. Because he was like, "That's great. You found God. Your soul is now going to be in Heaven forever. However, there are temporal consequences to your actions as a murderer." And that was the death penalty. And this just so happened to be at the time when in Texas they still had the death penalty on the table. It's not anymore, which is why we have so much injustice in the world, so much more criminal activity in the world, why we have mass shootings in the world. Could you imagine what would happen if these young kids who were murdering their classmates and their teachers, if we pulled them out and put them to death on the spot after they had a trial and everybody got to see it live on television.

(09:46):

All these young kids didn't get to see smiles of indignation, but they hear the screams of horror as they were put to death. Now that, the Bible says, the death penalty's purpose is not to go around killing people, the purpose is to drive fear into the criminal so they won't do it. That's right. If there was such a thing as death penalties, they should be few and far between, but on the table. When it's not on the table, there is no fear and people just keep going. See, when you have celebrity pastors who just, "Oh, they are no longer fit for their position as a lead pastor and teacher. Oh, so terrible. They feel so bad about it. We're going to be counseling the wife and the children to move on from such an atrocity."

(10:40):

Well, no, they're not. They're going to counsel the wife to forgive the husband. "After all, God is going to forgive him and you should forgive him, too." And the children, "You should not look down upon Daddy for doing such a thing. He just had a weakness like the rest of us do. We should all move on. You should embrace your father as a imperfect being, but a person who is now forgiven again and brand new and able to move on."

(11:12):

See, that's to act like somehow the guy stole 10 bucks or for some reason he didn't do his job properly or lied to somebody. That's the level of what we're talking about. Restitution is what the Bible calls for, restitution. You cannot return to society until restitution is paid. What is the restitution for murder? What is the restitution for adultery? Bible says it's very clear, death. The death penalty. The civil government should have on the books, if we're going to have a just society. And back in the days of George Bush and in Texas, Texas had a more just system than it does now and around America. Because those types of things for murderers is not on the table. Well, it should also be on the table for people who are also adulterers as well. That is what God's standard is. Now, not man's standard. Now of course most men in particular, women and all of us put together don't like God's laws because well, we are all capable of doing that.

(12:19):

We are correct in saying we're all capable. Sure we are. And that's why there needs to be something so severe on the table that we understand the disgusting horrific nature of such acts, like adultery, like murder. In fact, the Bible compares those two things. There are Bible verses that say a man can be forgiven for a lot of things, but a man who commits adultery will never, ever, ever, ever, ever be forgiven by another man or a woman or a child. Forget it. Not going to happen. The Bible talks about it endlessly, what a horrific, terrible thing that adultery is. It literally rips a marriage in half. It destroys a marriage. He murdered his covenant marriage. He murdered his wife. He murdered himself. They were one flesh, not anymore. This is akin to murder and when you cheapen it to say you're sorry and let's all move on, you don't even give credence to the fact of what the man did. To the horrible nature, what he did to his wife, what he did to his children, what he did to the community.

(13:28):

See, it wasn't just a simple thing like, once again, he showed up for work late or he stole something from somebody. He murdered his marriage. He murdered his wife who he promised he was going to be one flesh with this person the rest of his life. Nope, he just murdered his wife. And his children, of course, had to watch. See, that is the level of which it needs to be at. Now the church can't even support the idea of saying, "Well, we're glad you're sorry. Hopefully your soul will be saved in Heaven and I'm sure that you are still a Christian, but you no longer have a marriage." "What do you mean, I no longer have a marriage?" Because you decided to destroy it when you decided to get in bed with somebody who was not your wife.

(14:16):

See, this is the level in nature of what this is. Until we properly teach it and properly discuss it, we can't properly see its solution. And it's not that the church should be calling for divorce. No, the man divorced his wife when he murdered her via adultery. He has no marriage. He's destroyed his marriage. It does not exist. He destroyed his relationship with his children forever. It will never be repaired. Those children will never ever be able to forgive him. And why should they? And why should they? Imagine if he had butchered his wife with an ax in the bed, like the woman did in Texas that got the death penalty by George Bush. Now would they be like, "Well, let's just forgive Daddy who butchered Mommy in the bed. After all, he said he was sorry." No, no silliness like that would be said at all.

(15:15):

The problem is that we don't properly value marriage. We don't properly value life. We don't properly value the sanctity of the covenant of marriage and the family. The family's really not that important. See, to God, the family is the base institution of all of society, and that starts with the husband-wife dynamic. And when you murder the covenant of marriage, God says you deserve the death penalty. Now, the church itself and the church community does not have such power and never was given such power. And that should lie with the civil government. But the church community does have the power of separation. Absolutely. The power of separation. So what should happen to said, man, well, his marriage is gone. They should automatically say your marriage does not exist, by his own hand. Therefore, you are no longer married to this man. End of story. Seeking also not only a religious divorce which he did himself, but also having the civil government, also at the same time acknowledge this separation by his own hand and free the wife from said horrible man. Or woman in this case if it happened on the other side.

(16:33):

And the children should also see their father in that light. Now you might be saved in eternity, but you are a murderer of our family. And know we do not forgive you. We cannot forgive you. The restitution is the death penalty. And if the civil government was doing its job as it should be, kind of like George Bush did back in Texas for a murderer, then adulterers would also be put to death and that would be the end of that. He would be gone. This is the level of which God views marriage and how important it really is. See, we don't have a civil just society and therefore we're stuck with repairing things smally, in ostracization versus him being taken out and being removed from the world entirely. But that is the way that the Christian community should view it.

(17:31):

Now they'll say that's heartless and that's unforgiving. No, that's God. God is the one who said that, not me, not the church. We're the ones who want to disagree with it. We're the ones who wouldn't want that to be on the table because why? We might be guilty of doing that at some point and it might be something we might have to face. And we don't want that. We don't want consequences. We want cheap justice, where we can always just say we're sorry and we can be the perpetrator. And the victims continue to go on being victimized again and again and again. No, the man murdered his covenant relationship. It does not exist. And therefore by his own hand, his whole family is now gone to him. And that should also be to the Christian community. This person is now dead to us, completely dead to us. And the fact that we don't do that is why it continues to go on.

(18:29):

You need fear. I need fear. We all need the fear of God's law and justice being done for our actions to keep us at bay. And when it's not, it just keeps going. After all, if he can do this, can't you, too? Yeah, that's exactly what's going on in the church, and that's why we keep having problems. Well, it's not going to stop until somebody stops it. But I want to go ahead. Because I've talked quite a bit about this, and I want to discuss a biblical passage that will kind of put this in light a little bit for us as we're wrapping up here. It's going to be in Romans, Chapter Three. I'll read this quickly. If you have not read this before, you should pick it up yourself. I'm going to start with 9 through 12 and also try to get to 20 through 31.

(19:13):

"What then? Are we better than they? No. In no wise. If we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin. As it is written, 'There is none righteous. No, not one.' There is none that understand it. There's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable."

(19:35):

"There is none that do with good. No, not one." This is the human condition. This is where we start. We are all worthless people without God. 20 through 31. "Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ and to all and upon all of them that believe. For there is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God." "To declare I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just and the of him which believeth in Jesus."

(20:36):

Now let's stop there for a second. All that means is that you cannot be seen righteous in God's eyes by trying to keep the law. It doesn't work. You're already a sinner. The law shows us that we're already sinners. There is no hope in that. You must be born again by faith through Christ. End of story. No stop.

(20:56):

Let's continue quoting from verse 27. "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works, nay, but by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."

(21:10):

Okay, see, there we go. You are not going to be a Christian by keeping God's commandments in all the things that I've mentioned, but that's not what we're discussing.

(21:17):

Let's continue. Verse 29, "Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Seen as one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith."

(21:32):

Now, let's stop there for a second. This just means that all people, there is no salvation by race. It's salvation only by grace. And that is what Paul is saying. All peoples can be Christian if they are God's people chosen through election. Not based on where they're from, who their mama is, or anything else. And the last verse, verse 31, which brings us all together and which will clarify my comments earlier. Verse 31, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid. Yay, we establish the law."

(22:09):

This means that Christians will be coming and saying things like, "Well, we need to be more full of grace and less law." Wrong. We cannot be righteous under God to get to Heaven, to be the saved people of God, by keeping the law. In fact, we already broke the law. We're already sinners. That's why we need Christ to save us. But now that we are the people of God, how shall we live? And the answer is, by law. We are the people of the law. We obey God's commandments because we are saved. The law of God is not for the non-Christian. It is for the Christian. It is our way of life, not for salvation, but it is our way of sanctification. It pushes us in the direction we're supposed to live, growing in the power to keep God's commandments every day. And those commandments also have consequences. And that's what we're talking about here. We are still the people of the law and there are consequences for even God's people who are breaking the law of God.

(23:17):

And that means people that commit adultery, there are still said consequences on a temporal term. But on the eternal level, your soul is not going to be saved because you are a perfect non-sinner. Even after you are of course a Christian, you can't lose your salvation because you never earned it. And that's the wonderful thing about grace. This pastor that lost his family or should lose his family does not mean he loses his salvation. But he will lose an immense amount of reward for his sin. That's what's on the table for the Christian.

(23:54):

It's not about this life only, but what is in the life to come. And God says you can earn a great reward by keeping the commandments of God here and now while you have this life. But if you break God's commandments, there are consequences. If a Christian murders somebody, he should be put to death, just like anyone else under civil law because that is what God's justice says. So hopefully this has given you something as a Christian, to think about why the law of God should be not only understood and taught but followed in particular. So you can live a blessed life and bless everyone around you. We are not lawless people. We are the people of the law under grace. Thank you again for joining me. This is Jeremy Walker for The Last Kingdom. God bless.