Leaders as Heroes

I usually think about heroes during two holidays of the year: Memorial Day and July 4^th. On both days, I’m reminded of the cost many before us have paid so we might be free today. I know very few of their names, but they are nevertheless heroes.

Several years ago, I had the privilege of speaking to missionaries in Russia, and I commented that they were some of my heroes. With a humility that typifies missionaries, they encouraged me not to see them as heroes.  “We’re just doing what God called us to do,” they told me.

I’ve heard the same words from pastors of churches that are genuinely reaching non-believers and making disciples of Christ. It seems like the more the church is really making an eternal difference, the more likely it is that the pastor is humble and self-effacing. Read more