The title of this essay may look redundant, but it’s not. It reflects a distinction that one of our children reminded us about during a Young Church moment recently. When asked if Superman would still be “hero” if he did bad things, the response was quite different than expected: “He would still be one of God’s beloved children.” It was a perfect Presbyterian response.
As our children point out, Presbyterian theology has two core commitments that make it difficult for us to speak of “Heroes and Villains.” First, we believe that any good that we might attain is not of our own accord, but something that is empowered by God. Musty old doctrines with titles like “Sola Gratia” (grace alone), Predestination, Sovereignty, and the like were all grounded in the conviction that allgoodness is grounded in God and any participation we have in it is an act of God’s grace. Even Jesus responded to someone who called him “Good Teacher,” with the words, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” So, it is difficult to speak of “heroes” when we live in a tradition that resists attributing goodness even to the Christ.
The second commitment that makes it difficult for us to speak of “Heroes and Villains” is the obverse of the first: We believe that all of us are sinners. Paul put it rather starkly with the phrase, “There is none who is righteous,” followed immediately by what I think is an attempt to cut off the person who wants to take exception, “No not one.” The logic of this second commitment flows directly from the first. If God alone is the source of goodness, if grace alone is the only way that we can achieve anything good, then it follows that we ourselves cannot answer to the appellation of “good” any more than Jesus did.
So, there we have it. As Presbyterians we don’t believe in Heroes or Villains, but in God’s grace and our sinfulness. Right? … (crickets) … I said, “Am I right?”
Well … sort of. One of the unintended consequences of Presbyterian theology – if we took it at face value – would be that there is really no difference between doing good or doing evil, right and wrong, righteousness or sinfulness. One could – I suppose – take a very fatalistic view of it all: “If none of us is good, then why bother?” Or, if we are all equally sinners, then we might find ourselves relativizing evil with “Everyone does it” or “There are good people on all sides.” And that does notseem to be the point of either Jesus’ words, Paul’s words, or the theological ruminations of our theological ancestors. Clearly in the Scriptures if there is not a clean distinction between “Heroes and Villains” at least there is a distinction between what we might call “Heroism and Villainy.” I invite you to hear our theme of “Heroes and Villains” in that vein, rather than as absolute judgments of one person or another.
So, for example, last week we saw the heroism of Queen Vashti’s refusal to pose as eye candy for King Ahaseraus and his drunken consorts. That does not preclude that Queen Vashti was part of the system of power and privilege that she ultimately challenged with her heroic resistance. All of the “heroes” that we will visit this summer are flawed persons, just like all of the villains could easily possess some redemptive qualities. What we are seeing are not absolute distinctions that fully capture someone’s whole story. We are seeing glimpses of stories where someone acts heroically or villainously. So, while Paul speaking truth when he says, “There is none righteous, no not one,” the story of Cain was speaking truth when God says, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is to have you, but you must master it.”
What our Presbyterian heritage teaches us poignantly is never to write someone off because of their failure in life. None of us is totally defined by our actions, even our worst mistakes or most abject failures. Likewise, none of us is totally defined by our good accomplishments. Our tradition invites us to see each person as dependent on God’s grace in both our failures and our breakthroughs. Our dependence on God’s grace is a word of encouragement to the disheartened and a word of humility to the arrogant. At the same time, there is evil and there is good and our calling is to respond to God’s grace by doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly before our God.
“Heroes and Villains,” or, rather, “Heroism and Villainy.” Come explore it with us.
Mark of St. Mark
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