Are you a screw-up? The Bible records stories of many failures, sins and shortcomings. Even its greatest heroes, with one Obvious Exception, are shown to be men and women of shortcomings. Sometimes devastating shortcomings.
Hebrews 11, the Hall of Faith, is a wonderful example of sin, faith and salvation. This chapter contains a long list of Bible heroes, the names we heard in Sunday School, and shows their great examples of faith. It is an inspiring compilation, and has sometimes made me say, "Wow. If only I could somehow live up to that list. Those guys were awesome."
It can inspire us to live better lives, which is good. But it can also lead to despair if, (no) when we fall short. We've committed our lives to following Christ, doing what He wants, leaving the old, destructive habits behind, and then, wham. We screw up. A thought, a word, a deed that we know we shouldn't have done, but there it is. Done and no taking it back. No better than last time when we swore we'd do better.
We know that's not what God's looking for in his followers. He's looking for guys like Noah, the only righteous man in a wicked world. Or Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who followed God around the world and began a mighty nation. Or Moses, Joseph, David, Peter and Paul. Those are the guys God is looking for. The pillars. The rocks that God can build on. Not the losers.
It's easy to doubt ourselves, and ask if we're really even saved at all if this is what we have to show for it.
Read Hebrews 11. Sometimes it can make you feel like a little-leaguer visiting the baseball hall of fame, looking at the pictures and stats of Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and others. It can be a bit intimidating. But a closer look tells a different story.
As we read the details of these Bible characters, we see flawed individuals. And unlike the great baseball players, they aren't commended for their accomplishments, but for what happened right before they acted. They had faith. They still messed up. Some of them messed up a lot. But they had faith in the One who never errs.
Take Noah. After being identified by God as a light in the darkness, after 100 years building the ark and one year floating around with God and the animals, after rebuilding in a new world, after all that, he goes out one night and gets drunk and makes a fool of himself. The Bible says he was at least 600 years old at that point. I'd say that's old enough to know better. But it still happened.
Abraham is an amazing example of faith, as are his son and grandson, Isaac and Jacob. Yet they were often insecure and afraid, lying and cheating their way through life. And not just early on, but throughout. Now they also had good works to show, but they never completely overcame their sinful nature.
But, what if they would have? What if they would have done just good deeds all the time? What if you and I did? Here's the interesting thing. By themselves, good deeds don't get us any closer to God.
Heb 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please God." Doing good without faith in God doesn't help. It then goes on to say that to come to God, we first must believe that He exists, and then that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. So, pleasing God, gaining access to God, doesn't come by what we do, but by what we believe. And even then, we don't have to get it right the first time.
Consider Sarah. Not ironic that she made it onto this list, but ironic for why she made it. Verse 11 says "she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised." You remember that story? The women who literally laughed when the angel told her she would bear a son. Not exactly a moment of great faith. But Sarah came around. She is listed here in the faith chapter, for the very act that initially was her greatest failure of faith. Jaded by years of longing and believing for a child and coming up empty, of seeing God bless others but never her in this way, her response was cynicism. But she came around. She decided to have faith. And a nation was born.
Read the all of Hebrews 11 again soon. Rahab the prostitute is listed. Not a very noble profession there.
David was a man after God's own heart, but he was guilty of lust, adultery and murder. Try running for president with that on your record and see how it goes. And for David, like so many others, this was after years of walking with God and living by faith and working righteously. You'd expect a little more.
Gideon is on the list, faithless coward that he was. Over and over he asked God to prove that He really would be there for him. With all the questions for the angel and the dry fleece and the wet fleece, he wanted to be really, really, really sure that God wouldn't leave him hanging if he went out on the limb for Him. But he finally chose to have faith, and he acted on it.
Several more names. Several more similar stories. If I were Satan, I might say, "Really, God? That's your list? That's your all-star line-up right there? You sure that's what you want to go with?"
To which God would respond, "Absolutely it is! Only with some more names to add besides." Because in verse 16 he says, "Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." Did you hear that? God is not ashamed of them. God is not ashamed of you. He knows what they did. He knows it and He wrote it down so you would know, too.
And why is God not ashamed of us? The sentence before. "But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country." That's why. Again verse 6; "He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." He is proud of us because we seek Him; we desire a heavenly land; we want to be where He is. That's it. That's what comes from faith. And that's what gets us to God. Besides, God doesn't need us to be perfect heroes. That's His job.
Now, if we do have faith, James 2 clearly teaches that our actions will begin to show that. Faith without works is dead faith. But it isn't the actions themselves that make us worthy. It is the faith in God, and then a desire to be with Him.
So the review questions. Are you a screwup? Do you have faith in God? Do you long to be with Him? If you answered yes to these, you will fit in well with this list of "the heroes" of faith that God is waiting for.
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