Have you ever liked a villain more than the hero? Who and why?
Hero—a villain in disguise? Villain—a hero by circumstance? Who captivates the world more? Who pleases the Creator of the earth?
We hear it said: “Nánrén bù huài, nǚrén bú ài”—“If a man isn’t bad, women won’t love him.” Flaws and rebellion draw us in. But why?
Perhaps villains surround us, ready to capture vulnerable hearts. Perhaps liking a villain is simply easier—breaking rules pleasures more than keeping them. Yet we idealise enforcers, guardian angels, heroes—rare in reality, perfect on screen.
Years ago, I heard of lived heroism: A man drowned saving two boys not his own. I stood among cheering crowds—and grieved. Another cut his tangled parachute cord, falling to save a woman he never knew. The news reached me firsthand; my heart sank, though I did not know the dead. The stories of ordinary men—extraordinary kindness; instinctive righteousness—still linger in me.
Likewise, a villain is only an ordinary soul—who may yet repent. The day he turns, a life is born again.
Today we chase online heroes—idolising actors, traffic kings, fast-rising AI inventors. We care less for doctors who save lives, but for those who make the most money; for teachers who shape students, but for those who never risk their career for what is right. Even churches, vowed to save souls, see shepherds chasing attendance rates and richest treasuries.
So hero is not a title. It is a brave act, a sacrificial witness by an ordinary person—like Rahab, the harlot, who saved the spies; like Ruth, who suffered hardship for her dead husband’s mother; like countless unnamed ones who held fast amid crushing lives.
By faith in the Truth, I am set apart from the world. By grace, I live in God’s guidance and provision. By love, I discern that Christians’ kindness is not self-seeking—through their actions, His name is made known; (John 15:8).
So which is more pleasing to the Creator—the hero or the villain? Neither, in themselves. What pleases Him is the heart that turns: the villain who repents, the hero who stays humble, the ordinary soul who loves without seeking a name.
—
“You Are the Church”
The church is not a wall,
nor a cradle of love alone;
the church is you who, with love, trace out the body of Christ.
The church does not produce heroes,
cannot save every soul;
the church is you who, with love,
trace out truth and righteousness.
Come! Oh, come!
The world turns without you—yet with you as light,
letting all see who Christ is.
—
en yan hua fang 