Category Archives: Spiritual Life

Tina Turner was wrong. We need LOTS of heroes…

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I’ve enjoyed watching the TV series, Heroes. But those people are not heroes – at least not most of them. Heroes are people who care for others — the others that God’s placed in their sphere of influence.

As I speak of heroes, I am not talking about being a hero to your family. That’s twentieth century thinking. We’ve been taught that you need to be a hero to your family. To your wife. To your kids. To your husband. You do. But I have come to see that if I am only a hero to my family, I am a pretty selfish person. God’s given you more people to look out for than your family.

Can you think of others God has given you to influence? To care for? What about the people you work with? Do they need a heroic influence in their lives? I would say they desperately need a real hero. If you, as a Christian, are not influencing them, who is? There’s a need for heroes in the workplace. What about the people in your church?  The people you go to school with. The people you hunt with. The people you hang out with. Can you be a hero to them?

As we consider this concept of heroes, I want to look to my favorite hero. I have a lot of heroes. Jack Lambert was a hero. Few men played linebacker like Lambert. He’d be banned from the game of football today. Tony Dungy is a hero. Tony is one of the strongest men I’ve ever encountered. The way he faced the suicide of his son was life-changing for those who looked on.

But the most heroic person in my life is Jesus. You knew I’d say that, right?

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Why Christianity Isn’t Working for Some People…

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“It is virtually impossible to read the Bible and not see the truth that God expects His people to invest into His kingdom what He has given them, which typically involves other people. In fact, Jesus warns us that if we try to hoard what we have, will lose our lives. Perhaps this is why there are so many who claim to know Christ but whose lives are characterized by an absence of joy and a presence of depression or boredom. Ministering to others is not merely a mandate to “paid professionals.” It is the calling of anyone who claims to be a Christian. In fact, it is often at the intersection of our life with that of another that God does His most remarkable, joyful, and permanent work.”

~Fran Sciacca in To Serve With All Your Strength, p. 38.

The Practical Irrelevance of Christianity…

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“More than any other single thing, in any case, the practical irrelevance of actual obedience to Christ accounts for the weakened effect of Christianity on the world today, with its increasing tendency to emphasize political and social action as the primary way to serve God. It also accounts for the practical irrelevance of Christian faith to individual character development and overall personal sanity and well-being.” ~Dallas Willard in The Diving Conspiracy, p. xv.