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July 2007 News Bulletin

Submitted by JustinR on Fri, 2007-07-20 01:24.

HEROES

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 The Importance of Heroes
 by Justin Renton

                      
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heroesHEB 11:32-34 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.

We all need heroes. Heroes inspire us to reach higher, to give more than we would if left to our own devices, to love deeper than our selfishness dictates. Heroes are essential to all human growth. As humans, we build statues to them to remind us of them; we write books and poems about them so we will not forget what they called us to. In my own country, Nelson Mandela is a legend. Mistreated, oppressed and imprisoned for 27 years and yet no bitterness, no vindictiveness, no vengefulness was ever expressed. He must have been tempted, but he resisted that dark path and his character literally saved a nation from civil war. He is a hero in every sense of the word.

The Bible, of course, is full of heroes exemplifying qualities we all need to aspire to. The faith of Abraham, the courage of David, the humility of Moses, the forgiveness of Joseph, the character growth of Gideon, the leadership of Nehemiah, the financial sacrifice of the poor widow. The list goes on and on but the point is clear; God wants us to have real life people to aspire to so that we can lift ourselves to our true potential. Now, no hero is perfect. They all come with weaknesses. They are all human. Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife, yet he remained the father of faith. David slept with Bathsheba, yet he remained a man after God’s own heart. Gideon was cowardly at first, but won a great victory for God. Jephthah was impulsive, yet was still a hero for the victories he won for God’s kingdom.The issue for God, is heroes are not perfect but they are repentant

Cynics always take “the glass is half-empty” approach. How can David be my hero after what he did with Bathsheba? How can Nehemiah be a man of God after treating those Israelites so harshly? He pulled out their hair, for goodness sake! How can Peter be a leader in the first church; he betrayed Jesus three times?

The key for us is to examine how we look at heroes. These two verses should help us with our eyes, our perspective and our spiritual discernment:  

JAS 2:12-13 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

Titus 1:15-16 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.  They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. 

Nobody is perfect, therefore God tells us to judge with mercy. Mercy is a moderating force that helps us to see the bigger picture - to stop being caught up in the details and get a godly perspective; to see the wood from the trees, so to speak. The second scripture warns that it is the state of our hearts that determine what we see in any given circumstance. If our hearts are pure, then we will see the purity in the situation. If our own hearts are corrupt, then we will see corruption behind every corner.  Here is the question - how do you see things?

What made these biblical men heroes was not only their outstanding qualities, but also their repentance of their sin. Who has not found help in Psalm 51 as David wrestles with his own repentance? Who does not admire Peter for his change from ‘Fearful Follower’ to ‘Powerful Proclaimer’, or Paul from ‘slayer of Christians’ to ‘Servant of Christ’? In Southern Africa we have a lot of heroes of the faith. What you will read below are stories of  single moms who are amazing heroes of the faith, a single sister who lived for Christ and literally died for Christ while serving in the ministry.

Do you have spiritual heroes or have you lost faith? All of us need them, and we need them in the church. We need heroes of forgiveness, heroes of repentance, heroes of perseverance, heroes of faith and heroes of evangelistic fruitfulness. If you have been tempted with cynicism, I want to encourage you to clothe yourself with mercy and find some heroes that will help you to be the Christian God intends for you to be.