February 11, 2025

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Read: Colossians 3:1-17

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3:1–3 (CSB)

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The “hero’s journey” was popularized in contemporary literature by Joseph Campbell, an American writer and professor of literature. The concept is sometimes called the monomyth – a composite of thousands or possibly millions of stories, myths, and legends throughout human history that form a template or pattern. 

The template is simple. There is a hero who wants something and can’t have it because there is some external or environmental thing that keeps him from having it. This leads to a deep internal conflict that stalls him even further. Then he meets a guide – a sage – who has been where the hero is and can help him succeed. The hero, however, is hesitant, he doesn’t want to go on or doesn’t believe he can. But the guide urges him, painting a picture of what is at stake – both positive and negative. The guide trains the hero, gives him a plan, and then calls them to heroic action. When the hero has finished his journey, he is transformed. 

The next time you read a story or watch a movie see if you can spot the hero and his sage. The pattern is always there. When a story doesn’t follow this pattern we notice and something feels off. If the transformation didn’t happen we would be deeply unsatisfied. If Luke went back to his uncle’s farm on Tatooine or Harry Potter went back to the room under the stairs or if Little Orphan Annie tra-la-la’d her way back to the orphanage we would sit in the theatre in perplexed silence as the lights came on. 

(Good grief did anyone else notice that I just referenced three heroes who were orphans?) 

Now, there is more to a hero’s journey than these simple steps. For example, there is a point in every story where the hero must shed a burden. It could be the way he sees himself, heck it could even be a few pounds. She needs to leave her history behind and embrace a new, if harder, path forward. This decision to leave the past behind is exactly the journey that Christ calls us on and it is described in detail in these verses of Colossians. 

But here’s what I notice, there is nothing easy about it. Whether the hero is Superman or Cruella de Vil or Nemo’s dad or a Hallmark Heroine, the necessary steps to become the hero are painful. It is often so painful that if the guide didn’t give them a compelling vision of the future, the hero would probably give up and die. 

Paul is our guide in Colossians. The very first thing he does before he lists the litany of things the Christian hero needs to surrender is to remind us that we are raised with Christ. He tells us to keep our eyes up there and get our attention off the difficult task of giving up lying and slander. 

There is a process here, a Christian’s journey – and it starts by doing the work of removing the nasty stuff so we can take on the best stuff. This journey is so transforming that regardless of your identity when it starts, when it ends, you will no longer be labelled by religion, race, or even gender, you will just be one of God’s kids. 

Oh, and you’ll start to sing too! Because only transformed heroes really sing. They live in peace and unity too. They love hanging out together and forgive each other. And when they serve, they do it selflessly for Jesus who has walked with them through the full transformation. 

The one slightly misleading thing about the monomyth is that there is a conclusion. Stories need conclusions but the Christian’s journey doesn’t conclude or at least not before we die. Our transformation will take place out of sight after our body has breathed its last breath and our spirit is finally, fully, transformed and free. 

So, keep the end in mind and press through the hard stuff. All indications are that it will be worth it.