I was reading a story recently about someone who was deemed a hero
because of something he had done. Talk
shows and the media snatched up the story.
It was front page news. A few
days later we learned that the story wasn’t the story and the real story was “elsewhere.” It was disappointing. It again reminded us of how quickly the media
likes to report things for pure scintillation.
I couldn’t help but think about the hundreds of other stories that
happen on a daily basis that are inspiring to say the least but never get a
headline because they don’t come package with celebrity of some kind. Do we know what a hero is…really?
A recent poll of 9-12 year old boys and girls in metropolitan
Indianapolis revealed that ordinary people don’t rank high on their list of
heroes. The top spots belonged to sports
figures, business moguls and celebrities of different stripes.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man,
but he is brave five minutes longer."
Not exactly what our culture puts forth as the definition of a hero is
it?
Who we choose as heroes tells as much about us as it does about the
heroes we choose.
When the writer of the letter we know as “Hebrews” selected people to
inspire his readers toward courageous faith, he chose ordinary people who
responded to the call of God in their everyday moments.
Hebrews chapter eleven is one story after another of people living “by
faith.” No cameras. No microphones. No newspaper coverage. No talk show circuit to ride. Just people living in their moments according
to what God asked of them. Did they
struggle? Yes. And that is a big piece of the story. They weren’t special people. They were people living out their lives to
the beat of God’s drum…by faith!
Hebrews
11:35-38 says:
Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were
tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better
life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains
and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they
were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats,
destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not
worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the
earth.
We need people like that in our lives.
We need their stories of faith.
Why? Because they show us what is
possible. They remind us how to live in
our moments “by faith.” They teach us
how to struggle, fall, get up and keep going.
Crawling sometimes. Running at other
times.
Who do you have in your life now
or from your past who speaks to you about walking with God?
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.
Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
(Hebrews 13:7)
Father, thank you for people who show us how to live as disciples of
Jesus. May our lives be markers for
someone in days to come. Thank you for
Jesus who is our greatest marker. Amen.
Randy Daugherty
Stephenville, Texas
