Hierarchy of Heroism

This morning a friend of mine made the comment about Oprah "What an amazing person. When it is all said and done, hopefully decades from now, Oprah will go down as one of the greatest people of all time. Like Gandhi and Mother Teresa."

I will be the first to say that I love Oprah....but I have some issues with this comparison. Oprah has done many, many wonderful things so far. She does wonderful charities (hands on even). However, Mother Teresa and Gandhi carried out lives of sacrifice. This comparison makes it difficult to ignore Oprah's posh lifestyle.

For example, there is a story about Momma T in Shane Claiborne's Irresistible Revolution: "Mother Teresa was one of those people who sacrificed great privilege because she encountered such great need...But there is one thing I will never forget-her feet. Her feet were deformed. Each morning in Mass, I would stare at them. I wondered if she had contracted leprosy. But I wasn't going to ask, of course. "Hey mother, what's wrong with your feet?" One day a sister said to us, "have you noticed her feet?" We nodded, curious. She said, "Her feet are deformed because we get just enough donated shoes for everyone, and Mother does not anyone to get stuck with the worst pair, so she digs through and finds them. And years of doing that have deformed her feet."

That is one of my favorite stories. It is a perfect example of sacrificial living...and while Oprah is amazing...I think she is wearing the wrong shoes to be put on Momma T and Gandhi status.

There are different levels of heroism in the world. Like a pyramid, there are so many little acts on the bottom, that maybe inspire people to do a little more. The "awareness" part of activism. Getting the word out. It's what most people do. Then there are people that are on a higher level who write the checks and donate to charities and organizations because they are now aware. Without this support, many organizations could not go on. Then there is a group who goes beyond writing checks and puts their TIME and money into organizations. This is where I would put Oprah. However, the top of the pyramid is the smallest part. There are very few people who reach this status. These would be the people who give it their ALL. Living a life of sacrifice. Making their cause something worth dying for.

Momma T, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., the freedom riders all belong at the top of the pyramid. People who have given up physical comforts and joined the poor. There is a quote, "When I fed the poor, they called me a saint. When I asked why the poor were hungry, they called me a communist." Oprah is wonderful. She's a saint. I do not, however, believe, she has joined the poor.

I think that there is danger in comparing Oprah to people who have carried out a life of sacrifice. If we put her at this status, then we are in danger of lowering our standards of heroism for future generations. If we keep getting rid of the top of the pyramid, then we run the risk of reducing activism to simple awareness.

It reminds me of the story in Mark 12:41-44 which states, "Jesus sat

down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. THEY ALL GAVE OUT OF THEIR WEALTH; BUT SHE, OUT OF HER POVERTY, PUT IN EVERYTHING-ALL SHE HAD TO LIVE ON."

Especially in the flashy world that we live in, it is hard to look past all of those people who are sparing SOME of their wealth to see the true value of sacrifice.