Valor and Courage
Wednesday, March 16 2011
We would be remiss we if failed to recognize the valor of the Japanese nuclear plant workers that are this very moment striving to contain the radiation they know has already made them dead men. For the sake of their nation, for the sake of their neighbors, for the sake of their children they are giving the last amount of life they have before radiation will steal away their strength and cause them to die a most unpleasant death. They could have fled but instead they have chosen to make their lives count by giving all they have for others.
Courage comes in many forms. One does not need to look like a John Wayne film star to be a hero. We have so overused the word “hero” since 9/11. I have heard it used for individuals who used their cell phone to report an emergency. Somehow that pales in the light of individuals who knowingly place their lives in real jeopardy to help another. Jesus summed it up in John 15:13 when He said, “There is no greater love than giving your life for another.”
Sometimes I despair over those who somehow think they have God all figured out and know exactly who is going to be saved and who is going to be lost. Most often their criteria for salvation are not so much salvation by grace but salvation by ascribing to a certain ism. Rarely, actually never, have I seen a direct correlation between doctrine and love or dogma and character. God is not looking to fill heaven with theologians or doctrinarians. He is looking for people like Himself. He is looking for givers and lovers and people who don’t need to be “right.”
Courage comes in many forms. One does not need to look like a John Wayne film star to be a hero. We have so overused the word “hero” since 9/11. I have heard it used for individuals who used their cell phone to report an emergency. Somehow that pales in the light of individuals who knowingly place their lives in real jeopardy to help another. Jesus summed it up in John 15:13 when He said, “There is no greater love than giving your life for another.”
Sometimes I despair over those who somehow think they have God all figured out and know exactly who is going to be saved and who is going to be lost. Most often their criteria for salvation are not so much salvation by grace but salvation by ascribing to a certain ism. Rarely, actually never, have I seen a direct correlation between doctrine and love or dogma and character. God is not looking to fill heaven with theologians or doctrinarians. He is looking for people like Himself. He is looking for givers and lovers and people who don’t need to be “right.”