Who are Our Heroes-Pastor Mercy Githinji

Throughout life we decide what is important based on who or what shapes that opinion. We have heroes whose lifestyle we celebrate and we say ‘I want to be like him or I want a life like that.’ And what is heroic for one is different from what is heroic for another.

As we grow up, we form vivid images of what success is or is not. This view may be informed by various factors such as; societal heroes, observing close family members and friends, what we hear and see in the media, what education has taught about the subject, our culture, religion and religious leaders, political leaders views, books including the Bible, movies and Google. These opinion shapers may be of either positive or negative influence concerning our understanding of success.

I grew up in one of the suburbs in Nairobi, where my parents run a small hotel. My parents prioritized education as what we needed most. This was a blessing. Many would say that educating girls was a waste of time. Am grateful that we never lacked food but for most other amenities like housing we had to struggle for. We lived crammed in a small room with relatives who were doing worse than we were to the ridicule of other more affluent relatives. A radio or TV was foreign to us for a long time. It puzzled me why the small hotel was not growing with all the work we put into it. We also went to church and in my small mind I wondered why God was not increasing our resources. So from an early age I decided I want to discover why we were poor and to never be poor in my life.

I pursued God with zeal but couldn’t keep up because I felt I couldn’t trust Him- after all He had failed to help us financially- In my view He had failed to protect us from ridicule and embarrassments at family gatherings. I had the wrong view of God and of success. Instead of seeing my parents as heroes, I saw them as failures. Instead of seeing my family as overcomers, I saw them as the disadvantaged. I had to grow out of those mentalities to be able to have change in my life. For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov 23;7)

Today's movies, advertisements, books, reality shows and socialites on social media may present heroism that is far from reality. For instance the popular guy is usually the one with good looks, a lot of money and girls on his arm. The socialites that have most followers are usually the ones that use most exposing or shocking tactics to solicit for followers. Our heroes become life teachers, our relationships are replaced by social media networks and we end up taking counsel from the internet more than we do from parents, teachers and spiritual leaders.

Societal heroes and most celebrated people (celebs) are not necessarily our most effective role models of how a wholesome life should be. The social media and reality shows today place on celebrity platforms heroes that the untrained mind cannot tell between what is real or untrue.

  • This is an excerpt from a Young Professionals Forum Lesson-
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