Dylan's true hero was 'man in the garden'

Some years ago, I saw Bob Dylan in concert, back when Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were performing as his back-up band. Although Dylan doesn't say a whole lot during his shows, just comes out and plays his songs and leaves, he did introduce one song by talking about the heroes we idolize.

He mentioned the names of some of the biggest heroes of pop culture at the time, movie idols and rock stars and sports legends. Then he said, "I don't care about any of those people, or any of our other so-called heroes, but here's a song about my hero."

TRENDING: WATCH: Students support voting bill, then blow a gasket when they learn it's actually Georgia's law

With that, he began playing a song called "In the Garden" that opened with these words...

"When they came for Him in the garden Did they know?
Did they know He was the Son of God?
Did they know that He was Lord?
Did they hear when He told Peter,
'Peter, put up your sword'..."

It was a song about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, prior to His arrest and execution, and Dylan's point was that only one Man in all of human history deserves to be venerated and revered. He alone is the true Hero.

One of those cultural icons Dylan might have mentioned at that concert is Chuck Norris, the six-time world karate champion who went on to become a film and TV star.

Norris recently started writing an exclusive weekly column for WorldNetDaily. In his debut column in October, he addressed an Internet phenomenon known as "Chuck Norris Facts" -- tens of thousands of jokes circulated online which poke fun at Norris' tough-guy image by ascribing superhuman powers to him. Sample "fact": "Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice."

In his column, Norris explained that he doesn't think of himself as some sort of superman, but he admitted that wasn't always the case. Back when he was winning all those world karate championships and starring in hit movies, he says he "put too much trust in who I was, what I could do and what I acquired. I forgot how much I needed others, and especially God."

With all his astounding success, he couldn't overcome the emptiness he felt inside. He continued: "I dedicated my whole life to fame and fortune. I had a huge hole in my heart and was miserable until I met my wife, Gena, who brought me back to the Lord."

His recommitment to Christ has made all the difference in Norris'
real life (as opposed to his on-screen persona) and taken away the hole in his heart that is part of the human condition.

The emptiness Norris experienced up to that time – which the great scientist and philosopher Pascal described as "the God-shaped vacuum," a space that can only be filled by Christ – is common to all people everywhere, including the biggest stars of stage and screen. That's why we can somehow never be fully satisfied apart from Christ by anything life has to offer, even when we accomplish our loftiest goals.

At the height of his fame, having sold millions of records and sold out venues around the world, pop music star Neil Diamond wrote in what he calls his most personal, autobiographical song, "I Am...I Said," about his meteoric rise to the very apex of the music industry: "Did you ever read about a frog who dreamed of being a king and then became one?/ Well, except for the names and a few other changes, if you talk about me the story's the same one/ But I've got an emptiness deep inside, and I've tried, but it won't let me go."

Most people believe that great wealth would solve all their problems and bring them the peace and fulfillment that seems so elusive, yet those who have placed their hope in riches – and attained them – have discovered something quite different.

When he was the richest man in the world, someone asked John Rockefeller how much money was enough. He replied: "Always a little more than what you have." As Scripture tells us, "He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase" (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

Indeed, we will end up disillusioned when we put our hope or trust in anything, or anyone, other than Christ. In a recent television interview, Dr. Phil and his wife Robin gave their testimonies as born-again believers and talked about their strong Christian faith.

Dr. Phil discussed how he became disenchanted with Christianity at an early age because of all the hypocrites in his church. Then he realized he was looking in the wrong direction – he was looking horizontally (at fallen
men) rather than vertically, or upwardly (at Christ).

When he finally fixed his gaze upon Christ, he saw the only perfectly holy, perfectly just One who has ever lived; the One who said He came into the world to seek and to save those who were lost (that's all the rest of us); the One who loved him and all of us so immeasurably that He willingly died a substitutional death on the cross to pay our sin debt fully.

Only in the life, death and bodily resurrection of Christ do we find true significance and eternal meaning in this world. As U2's Bono told Rolling Stone magazine simply in professing his faith, "the story of Christ makes sense to me."

When Dr. Phil looked at last to Christ, and to Him alone, he became another hero of the modern culture who recognized that there is really only one true Hero who has ever lived, and He was God Himself in human flesh.

Tom Flannery writes a weekly political column called "The Good Fight" and a continuing religious column called "Why Believe the Bible?" for a hometown newspaper in Pennsylvania. His opinion pieces have appeared in publications such as Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, and Christian Networks Journal. He is a past recipient of the Eric Breindel Award for Outstanding Opinion Journalism from News Corp/The New York Post, in addition to winning six Amy Awards from the Amy Foundation.