one of my heroes "fell" a few years ago. . . or at least, his fall became public knowledge. it was really jarring for me. right when i found out, i called my dad. probably because i knew he would have biblical comfort. i knew he would help me stay grounded. his first words, when all i did was sob into the phone, were "this is why we don't 'put our trust in princes' ". . .
francis schaeffer gives an ear-full on this point in his sermon "the weakness of God's servants." with his litany of flawed men & women of the Bible & their stories mingled with faith & failure, he ultimately concludes we live better out of this recognition that we're all flawed. . . he calls it biblical realism.
"among religious writings, the Bible is unique in its attitude to its great men. even many christian biographies puff up the men they describe. but the Bible exhibits the whole man, so much so that it's almost embarrassing at times. if we taught our children to read the Bible truly, it would be a good vaccination against cynical realism because the Bible portrays its characters as honestly as any debunker or modern cynic ever would.
we usually think about the strong points of the biblical men, and that's all right. normally we should look at the victory of biblical characters, the wonder of their closeness to God, and the exciting ways God used them according to the faith and faithfulness they displayed. but let us not be embarrassed by the other side- the Bible's candor (even about its greatest leaders), its portrayal of their weaknesses quite without embarrassment and without false show.
paul wrote to the romans, 'for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God'- a simple statement, though stronger in the greek. . . 'all sinned (past) and are coming short (present) of the glory of God.' paul was not merely saying all men sinned before justification, but that all christians continue to come short of God's glory. this is the biblical picture even of its own heroes.
we should not be caught between idolozing and despising. if we revere a person too much and then find weakness, our first tendency will be to deny any value at all in the man. we are not to minimize sin, but we can expect perfection from no one but God. . . we must remember that all christians are men or women, sinners having many victories, yet sinners until Jesus comes again. there is no man or woman who does not need prayer. . . the realism of the Bible is that God does not excuse sin, but neither is He finished with us when He finds sin in us."
So good!
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