Great Men of God

Several weeks ago I told my wife that God had given me clarity that like Abram we had left Ur, but got stalled in Haran instead of going to Canaan as we had been instructed. To this my wife replied, “You’re no Abraham.” A few days ago someone asked me for the details about how we were going to accomplish the work that God has called us to. I replied that when God sent out Paul and Barnabas they didn’t have a detailed plan about everything that was going to happen. God opened doors for them after they obeyed and went out. To this I was told, “Don’t compare yourself to Paul. You’re no Paul.” I’m currently reading a book in which the author happened to interview a man who advocates polygamy. The man suggested one way to convince your current wife to support adding additional wives was to show that the “great men” of the Bible had multiple wives.

I’ve finally had enough of this nonsense about “great men” of the Bible. There are no great men in the Bible. Let me say that again. There are no great men in the Bible. There are only ordinary men who had a great God. Because of the greatness of their God, they led extraordinary lives. Throughout scripture God repeatedly sought out the humble, weak and unqualified through whom he could show his greatness.

Not yet convinced? Have you ever cared more about what other’s thought than being true to what you knew was right? Guess what, you are like Peter. He refused to eat with the Gentiles as soon as brothers from Jerusalem came by – and Paul rebuked him for his hypocrisy. Have you ever been filled with righteous indignation and attacked others, only to find that you were in the wrong the whole time? Guess what, you are like Paul. He murdered Christians and forced them to blaspheme until he literally saw the light when Jesus knocked him down on the way to Damascus. Have you ever had trouble accepting the failures of others and giving them a second chance? Guess what, that’s Paul again. He refused to take John Mark with him on his second missionary journey because the young man didn’t see it through on the first journey. Barnabas, the man who risked his life to give Paul a second chance had to leave Paul’s company in order to do the same for John Mark.

The Bible clearly tells us that the stories of men and women in the Bible are for our instruction. We are to learn from their mistakes, as well as take comfort that God can still use us when we fail, even as he used them when they failed. And we are to follow their good example and glorify God with our lives as they did.

So let’s not quibble about little or great men. We are all ordinary men. But we have a great God. Let’s rejoice in him, and allow him accomplish great things in us.