All My Heroes Are Sinners Too

Heroes in the Bible

Make no mistake.  The Bible is a story filled with many heroes.  Just don't forget or avoid this truth:  They are all sinners as well.

Abraham was the first "Man of Faith."  His willingness to leave his home and follow God's promise is a case study in "faith counted as righteousness."  (Genesis 15:6 & Romans 4:3)  But he also betrayed his own wife, not just once but twice (Genesis 10:13 & 20:3)  Hero of the Faith?  Sure!  Sinner, as well?  Obviously.

King David had faith enough to stand against Goliath when he was only a shepherd boy.  But he also committed murder and adultery as well as let sexual abuse go unpunished in his house.  Yikes!

The pattern carries in to the New Testament.  Peter would stand up and preach the "first Christian Sermon" in Acts 2:14-41.  Tradition has it that he would be crucified upside down.  But along the way, Paul would need to challenge him publicly for not "living in line with the Gospel."  (Galatians 2:14)

Every hero in the Bible is also a sinner.  Except for one.

Heroes in History

All this is true of characters that fill the history of the world and our nation.  All my heroes in American history are heroes that are sinners as well.

George Washington led his soldiers against tyranny in the face of long odds.  Even more, he stepped down after two terms as the president when he could have been made a king.  Sacrificial leadership based on humility is an inspiration to me.  But he also kept a plantation with enslaved people.

Martin Luther King, Jr was a Baptist preacher who called every American to make good on the promises and hope of our founding.  He also had a dark side that he himself recognized and discreetly referred to.  

Robert E. Lee was a brilliant general who wrote against slavery and succession from the Union.  And yet, he led the Confederate Army in the Civil War.

Every human hero you and I will ever have will always be both hero and sinner.  Those come together in one package the Gospel tells us, because every human is an image-bearer of the Great Creator-King who is broken in some way by sin.  That means heroes are all sinners.  It also means that even sinners can sometimes in some way be heroes.

Confusing?  Not really.  It just means that we all need to be rescued from our sin.

Don't Be Fooled About Your Heroes Or Your Own Sin

I'm a history nerd, so I must confess that seeing historical monuments being pulled down is unnerving to me.

I know each person represented by a statue being pulled down is both a sinner as well as - in some way to some people - a hero.  I think it is important and honest to be clear about the sin of those persons, but I also want to learn and be inspired by their heroism when it is there.  And sometimes - as with Robert E. Lee - ponder the irony and sadness of their decisions and life.  If I can be inspired by heroics, I can also learn from the mistakes of others.

Sooner or later, if I am unwilling to deal honestly with both the hero and the sinner in each person - canceling anyone for a single expression of sin - I will have to either falsely deny my own sin, or else live under the weight of my own canceling conscience.

The Apostle Paul knew this from his own experience.  He writes in Romans 7:24, What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

This is the life-giving beauty of the Gospel of God's Grace:  though all our heroes are sinners, there is One who is both Hero and Sinless Savior: A rescuer for every image-bearer broken by sin.

Keep In Mind: Biblical Truth About the Holy Spirit - part 1

 Keep In Mind: Biblical Truth About the Holy Spirit

 In my experience, many folks are not quite sure what to make of the third person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit.  This goes for church-going people as well as those who rarely “darken the door.”  We will be doing a lot of learning and reflecting on the Holy Spirit as we begin a new sermon series at Harderwyk for the summer because we will be working through the Book of Acts and the Holy Spirit is a BIG character in that story.

With this in mind, I hope to add some resources on an occasional basis through this series, that “stake-out” the boundaries of biblical teaching on the Holy Spirit.  They grow out of years of study, personal reflection and conversations with people that I shepherd.  So with thanks to all those people who have been part of my journey, let’s get started.

I. The Holy Spirit Is There From the Beginning! – Genesis 1:2 to be exact!  There we read,

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.  Don’t let yourself think that the Spirit somehow appeared for the first time on God’s stage at Pentecost.  The Spirit is as eternal as God, since the Spirit is God.  Co-equal and co-eternal are two of the “summary terms” for that Bible’s teaching on this.

II. Spiritual Gifts?  Part of the Whole Story As Well! – Growing up, I had the mistaken impression that “gifts of the Spirit” became part of God’s story at the first Pentecost recorded in Acts 2.  Reading the Bible showed me how wrong I was.

Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³ and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—⁴ to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze. - Exodus 31:1–4

That is a great description of the spiritual gift of craftsmanship, which by the way, one might expect from a God Who is Himself a Creative Creator!  So don’t think spiritual gifts – more on those in the future – were not happening among God’s people until Pentecost.  David had the gift of leadership.  Isaiah the gift of prophecy.  I could go on, and will later in the series.

For now: Think of the continuity of the person and work of the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament to the New Testament as we start the Book of Acts.

III. The Holy Spirit Is A Person, Not Simply Some Impersonal "Force" or "Influence" - Let me say it again: The Holy Spirit is a "person," not an impersonal force.  The Spirit is a spiritual person, but a person all the same.  Throughout the Scripture, the Spirit has all the characteristics of personality - will, relationship, quenchable, etc.

Still my favorite presentation of this is the first chapter of "The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit" by 19th century evangelist R.A. Torrey called "The Personality of the Spirit."  It is clear, succinct and full of biblical references for further study.  Here's a taste:

It is also of the highest importance from the practical standpoint that we decide whether the Holy Spirit is merely some mysterious and wonderful power that we in our weakness and ignorance are somehow to get hold of and use, or whether the Holy Spirit is a real Person, infinitely holy, infinitely wise, infinitely mighty and infinitely tender who is to get hold of and use us. (p. 3)

By the way, you can have access to this book and MANY other classics for no or little cost .  Simple download the FREE Kindle app for your computer, tablet, iPad or phone and pull them in from the Kindle option on their Amazon.com listing.  CLICK HERE for this book by Torrey, currently at 99 cents.  CLICK HERE for my favorite Andrew Murray book for free.