A hero of heroes…
Aug 18th, 2009 by ljkim
One of the most popular kinds of stories is the “unlikely hero.” Take Clint Eastwood’s character in Gran Torino, old, miserable, racist, emotionally dysfunctional – who becomes the savior of a Hmong family (and a hero in the community). The Bible has many stories of unlikely heroes too, Abraham the man of faith who just couldn’t trust God…the elderly Moses who was going to free God’s people, a guy named “the sword” (Shamgar in the Book of Judges) who didn’t have a sword only a pointy stick… and on and on. But the Bible does something that unlikely-hero stories do not. Unlike Clint Eastwood’s character who overcomes his racism and truly does become a hero, many of the Bible’s heroes continue on in their fatal flaws… Because the Bible does not really mean to do unlikely hero stories – there’s a different story beneath the surface.
The real story is about the God who SENDS the most unlikely heroes and deliverers… A God who can use an elderly racist white man to save a Hmong family. A God who can use weak people, and foolish people, and broken people in strong and wise ways.
Now I think it’s admirable to focus on improving oneself, but if that’s your main focus you’re focusing on the wrong thing. What you need first is a God who can use even broken people…who’s plans aren’t destroyed whenever you mess up. A God who can love you always and use you no matter what. And once you get that, then you can do things that other people might see as self-improvement, growth; not because you need to do it, but because you want to do it out of love for your Savior.
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