"Spiritual giants" are not really giants at all. They are just ordinary people who chose to put God first, and to keep on putting God first. And even that has rarely, if ever, been done perfectly. There are a lot of people who have set out to be spiritual giants... but when it started to cost them something... or when it got a bit boring, they lost interest and settled for a counterfeit of their own design.
But those people we think of -- throughout the world, and throughout history -- as spiritual giants, are insignificantly different from you and me. It's so important for us to realise that we can be the "salt of the earth" as Christ put it. We can be the very reason that Almighty God chooses to give the human race a little more time to repent. We don't float on clouds or wear halos. We continue to wrestle with weaknesses of every sort. But if we keep on keeping on we can become the stuff that others call "spiritual giants"... not because we really are, but just because we kept on when they threw in the towel.
In particular, what God has shown us about living by faith is an historic revelation, and one that we have an especial commission to deliver. The message is not new as such... It's been there since the sermon on the Mount. But we are teaching it once again in these last days. If the world continues long enough, and if we stay faithful, they'll be talking about us after we're dead and gone. It's just that plain and simple. We're saying what no one else on earth appears to be saying today. And it's not obscure, irrelevant, or insignificant. It's the incredible missing piece to understanding all that God wants to say to the human race. Amazing, isn't it?
Heroes of the past had lesser bits of truth; but because they were faithful to the message that God had given them, they are immortalised today. So you can be certain that the same will happen to us, even if it doesn't happen until after we're dead. There are two exceptions to this worldwide recognition, however. Some individuals may not be remembered by name here on earth, because people like myself will have stolen all of the limelight. But for these people, the Bible promises that in God's eyes they will receive "a greater resurrection" than the big name heroes. (
Hebrews 11:34-35) And the second exception (which is quite likely) is if the world should not last long enough for people to immortalise us. Of course, that would be infinitely better, because it would mean that we will be around to join with Jesus himself in setting up his kingdom here on earth.
Great stuff! But remember that even if that happens, it won't be because we're spiritual giants. It'll just be because we did not stop putting God first.
We've watched scores of people come and go in our community... each succumbing to the temptation to do things their own way, to take some selfish short-cut, and each becoming spiritual midgets as a result. But if we'll stay honest, open, loving, and teachable, God can make us into what he wants us to be... even if it's just humble little pawns in his great army. Better to be a humble pawn in an eternal army than the highest ranked general in all the meaningless armies of the world!
(See also
Positions Vacant, and
Aim for the Sky.)
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