I watched King Arthur again last night.
It’s one of those films that just make me want to write. And blog about them. A bit gory for my tastes, but it still leaves me full of ideas and inspiration, etc.
And so I was thinking (as I often do after watching films like that). I was thinking about how we have these ideas that heroes aren’t as popular in today’s world. Because people are over that. They realise they’re selfish beings, and they don’t expect anyone else to be good enough to be a hero.
But then I watch a film like King Arthur. And sure, he’s just a guy, but he’s also a hero – in the classical sense of the word. You know, good and just and selfless, etc.
As Guinevere says to Arthur at one stage, talking about what she has heard about him, “Fairy tales. The kind you hear about people so brave, so selfless, that they can’t be real.”
And despite the fact that there seems to be an idea that we’re over heroes. That people don’t want heroes anymore because they see them as unattainable, these great people that we can’t even imagine being – people are still making movies like King Arthur.
And that encourages me. Because it means that there are still people out there who want heroes. Who desire to be heroes.
Because isn’t that what we do?
We watch these films and we imagine what it would be like. To be brave and selfless like that. Because as much as we are selfish, we also desire to be selfless. To be heroes. To lead men into battle not because they fear us, but because they respect us. To commit great deeds which had a purpose, which have meaning, to leave something behind in this life so that isn’t worthless.
To have made a difference.
Isn’t that what we want?
I know that it’s what I want. But sometimes I forget. Because it’s easier to be selfish. To think about myself. But when I sit down and I think, okay, what do I really want out of life?
The answer is that I want to make a difference. To have purpose and meaning and be a hero. Not because heroes are praised but because they’re the kind of people that you want to emulate. That make you believe that great things can happen.
That life isn’t fair or just or easy, but that heroes can still make a difference.
And that difference is in the choices they make.
I don’t want to be remembered for being a selfish person. Or reaching the top of the corporate ladder. Or having a lot of money.
I want to be remembered for being a hero. For making a difference in people’s lives. (And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being successful or earning a lot of money, but that’s not what I want to be remembered for).
I want to be remembered for kind words and kind acts. For being brave and selfless. For the choices I make which make a difference – a good difference, to other people’s lives.
I want to be a hero.
And you know, I may not be fighting invading Saxons. But watching films like that often reminds me that I am fighting a battle. That I’m in the middle of a war. A Spiritual War. And I may not be Arthur, or be following Arthur into battle.
But I do have a Commander, a Captain, a Leader, Who is brave and selfless. Who is a true hero, Who I follow.
And His name is Jesus.
And He didn’t drive out the Romans the way the Jews expected the Messiah to – an earthly victory, but He conquered sin and death – a victory greater than any earthly battle. And He asks me to follow Him. To fight for Him.
I love the end of King Arthur. When the Knights finally have their deeds. Their freedom. And they’re free to go. And Tristan lets the hawk go, telling it it’s free, and it flies straight for the battle.
And they go join Arthur.
Because they’re free. And they don’t have to fight. They’re free to leave, to go, to do whatever. But they choose to return and help Arthur fight. It is their free choice.
And the Bible tells has that it is for freedom that we have been saved (Gal. 5:1). The freedom to live the way God wants us to (Gal. 5:13, 1 Peter 2: 16 (TLB)).
And it’s not always easy, and sometimes it’s easy to forget that there is a Spiritual Battle being waged around us all the time, and that we’re soldiers, knights. That we need to fight.
But you know, Jesus, He’s a real hero. So brave and selfless that it seems almost impossible that He exists. But He does.
And who wouldn’t want the Leader they’re following to be like that?
I know I do.
So i guess I’ve just been reminded, once again, that there is a Spiritual Battle going on. That I am a warrior. That I have purpose and meaning and worth to my life – if I follow my Captain, my Commander, into this battle.
And that I really do want to be a hero.
To be remembered.
Arthur may have been King, but we remember the others, too, don’t we? Tristan and Galahad and Lancelot and Gawain and so on. Because they followed Arthur. They were his knights.
Well, I want to be remembered for following my hero. For following Jesus.
Wherever He leads me, I will go.
Even into the midst of battle.
Because I want to be selfless, like Him.
