Invisible Heroes

I loved the Green Bay Packers as a kid. I grew up watching Bart Starr, Carroll Dale, Elijah Pitts, and Ray Nitschke, under the leadership of Hall of Fame Coach Vince Lombardi. Each time I played street football, I was either Bart Starr throwing “the bomb” or Carroll Dale receiving. I would not miss a game.

We all have heroes, people we admire, look up to and want to be like.

We have heroes we remember from our past. John Glenn’s flight in the Mercury 6, Friendship 7 excited the world, as he circled the earth. I remember watching on a small black and white TV while I was in 2nd grade. He inspired a nation.

We have spiritual heroes like Martin Luther, John Wesley, and William and Catherine Booth, who have influenced millions. Their work stands on its own.

When we think of heroes we think of traits like smart, strong, visionary, decisive, clear thinking, bold and daring; heroes like Winston Churchill, who in the midst of World War II, Great Britain under constant bombardment, and virtually standing alone against the Third Reich said:

“Do not let us speak of darker days; let us speak rather of sterner days. These are not dark days; these are great days—the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race.”

I listen to such words and say, “Now there is a great hero!

In the honor of our heroes, we erect statues, write books, sing songs, and wish we had more people like them. Heroes!

However, I believe there are many more heroes, most go unnoticed: no statues, no books, and no songs. These people go through life doing seemingly insignificant things, yet drastically affecting others. Their traits include such things as care, love, investment of time in others, belief and faithfulness; they are Invisible Heroes.

Scripture is filled with hundreds of examples of such heroes. One example comes in the most unlikely place, by a very unlikely person.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. Hebrews 11:31


This story shows that God will use anybody. This woman worked as a prostitute in Jericho as the Israelites approached the city. Although the Hebrew spies needed someone to help them scope out the best approach to conquering the city, there seemed little logical reason why Rahab should have been considered for the role: 1) She occupied no position and held no official title in the city; 2) The Israelites looked upon women as lower class citizens. 3) As a prostitute, she held an even lower social rank than the average woman did.

However, because being a hero depends less on titles than it does influence, God chose Rahab. She helped the spies by her quick wisdom, gutsy style, and clever plan. By doing so, she saved not only her own life, but aided in accomplishing the purposes of God in Jericho. The name “Rahab” even occupies an honored place in the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11).

The Apostle Paul had heroes. During his final days of his life, he felt abandoned. His “so called” friends had left. Only Luke was with him while he was writing his final letter to Timothy, which closes with:

Do your best to come to me…Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 2 Timothy 4:9-12

Paul needed those three men with him. He knew what was coming his way, and he could accept that, but the thought of being alone during those dark days were unbearable.

I moved to Portland, Oregon, with my mother and stepfather, Pat, when I was eleven. My mother never learned to drive and Pat was not interested in driving us to church. Therefore, my mother called the large corps that was fairly close to our house and asked if anyone could pick us up on Sundays, she was politely told no.

There was another corps on the other side of town. She called, even though the corps was a long way from our home. Without hesitation, the officer, a single lieutenant, said yes. And, over the next four years, he drove across town two times each Sunday, plus numerous times during the week to pick us up. He never knew that young boy would someday be an officer or the Divisional Commander in Hawaii; he was only serving a little old woman and her young son.

The funny thing is if you ask him about his accomplishment of life, he may not even think about those days in Portland. He was just doing his job, what God called him to do.

I am not sure what kind of accolades Major Ron Bawden will receive during his retirement service next year, but Lieutenant Ron Bawden was, and still is, a hero of mine. I would not be here today without him.

You have the opportunity to touch the lives of people every day. You go through the day, without pomp and circumstance, doing things the world never sees, and they are often deemed insignificant. However, to the person touched, and to God, the things are very significant.

We live in a day when corporate greed and corrupt leadership makes headline news. Abuses by those in spiritual leadership and people using God’s name to promote their own political agendas have soured many on the claims of the Gospel. I cannot think of another time in history when we were more in need of heroes.

Ray Boltz, in his song “Thank You,” simply put it:

One by one they came Far as the eye could see.
Each life somehow touched By your generosity.
Little things that you had done, Sacrifices made,
Invisible on the earth In heaven, now proclaimed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am so glad you gave.