I usually think most about heroes during two holidays of the year: Memorial Day and July 4th. On both days, I’m reminded of the cost many before us have paid so we might be free today. I know very few of their names, but they are nevertheless heroes. I’m privileged to do what I do without fear in part because of their sacrificial efforts.
Today, though, I’m thinking of other heroes. Several years ago, I had the privilege of speaking to missionaries in Eastern Europe, and I commented that they were some of my heroes. With a humility that typifies missionaries, they encouraged me not to see them as heroes. “We’re just doing what God called us to do,” they told me.
I’ve heard the same words from pastors of churches that are genuinely reaching non-believers and making disciples of Christ. Many laypersons in these churches exhibit this same attitude. Indeed, I could tell stories of my spiritual heroes for hours. Rather than make these missionaries, pastors, and laypersons feel uncomfortable, however, I have generally tried to be cautious about speaking words of praise for them.
I’ve now changed my mind.
Ask our children who their heroes are, and I fear they will speak of a cartoon figure, a movie character, or a television or Internet superhero. I hope they would name their parents, but I’m not persuaded that would always happen. I am fairly certain the children would not name their pastor, and I doubt most could even name a missionary. Our children can likely name others who attend church with us, but I’m not sure they would list them as heroes.
That reality, I think, is tragic. Who of the next generation will take the gospel to the ends of the earth if they don’t know missionary heroes? How many of our children will be open to a call to ministry because a church leader has been a hero? How many will long to be like their pastor who preaches the Word, lives a holy life, models personal evangelism, and loves God’s church?
Will our children know by heroic example they can be a strong Christian and a public school teacher? A well-trained CPA who models Christian integrity? A politician who stands up for righteousness? A bus driver who transports students during the week and teaches the Bible on Sunday? A church elder and a police officer? And, to be honest, I wonder if others see you and me as heroes.
I want our kids to find at least some of their heroes in the church.
My point is not to rob God of His glory by being man-centered. Rather, it is to give God His due glory for the leaders He has given the church. It is to praise Him for the men and women who have challenged us to follow God in radical obedience—to take risks necessary to do the Great Commission at a local, national, and international level. I wish our children could know all of them.
Who are the church leaders who’ve been your heroes? Tell us about them in the comments below. Send them a link to this blogpost, with these words as the subject line: “I thank God for you.” It’s okay to have heroes who honor God.
My heroes have always been those who experience awful tragedy in their lives yet continue to cling close to Jesus in faith. It’s the mother who buried a child. A widower who lost the love of his life. It’s the woman who has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer yet still has joy and peace in her heart. The ones who go through the unimaginable valleys and still stick close to the shepherd– those are my heroes.