N.T. Wright on Unsung Heroes
More from Acts for Everyone Part One by N.T. Wright. I’ve quoted and referenced Wright so much that when I actually post a review of this book, it may be redundant. Here he talks about Dorcas, the resurrected widow-heroine from Acts 9. Unfortunate name, but what a story and what a take-away:
Dorcas…stands as it were for all those unsung heroines who have got on with what they can do best and have done it to the glory of God. Had it not been for Peter, she might never have made it into the pages of the New Testament, and we have to assume that there were dozens in the early years, and thousands in later years, who, like her, lived their lives in faith and hope, bearing the sorrows of life no doubt as well as celebrating its joys, and finding in the small acts of service to others a fulfillment of the gospel within their own sphere, using traditional skills to the glory of God.
Luke is right to draw out eyes down to the small-scale and immediate, in case we should ever forget that these are the people who form the heart of the church, while the apostles and evangelists go about making important decisions, getting locked up, stoned or shipwrecked, preaching great sermons, writing great letters, and generally being great and good all over the place. I am privileged to know plenty of Dorcases… When I meet such people I greet them as what they are, the beating heart of the people of God. - N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone Part One
Leaders get the limelight, the book deals, and the wide-eyed acolytes, but the kingdom of God is innervated by unsung heroes. Anyone serious about seeing new churches grow would give his right arm for people like Dorcas.
May 15th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Amen