May-June 1998

Heaven's Heroes

by Dan Schaeffer

It was Sunday morning, and the woman in my church was simply glowing with excitement. Had I heard? Evander Holyfield beat Mike Tyson in a heavyweight boxing match!

Now this woman didn't look to me to be the type who watched boxing, so I was a bit surprised at her revelation. "Yes," I grinned despite myself, "I had heard."

But, she went on. Had I heard what Holyfield said when he won, how he gave glory and thanks to Jesus, and wore a Christian cap and all? No, I hadn't heard that, and I'll admit I was a bit surprised.

Going home that afternoon I determined to scour the sports page for any mention of Holyfield's praise in print. The story of his stunning victory was all over the sports page, but alas, no mention of his Christian faith.

Well, this must just be another example of liberal bias in the press. Or was it?

I couldn't help remembering a number of columns I had read in the sports page about a premier college running back out of Texas. Our local sportswriter had given both his running feats and his faith great press. In fact the sportswriter had gone so far as to visit a church where the young man was going to preach. Excerpts of his testimony were even printed in the sports page. The writer had spoken in glowing terms of this man and his faith.

And then there was Danny Wuerfuel, Heisman trophy winner, whose athletic prowess and faith had also been highly spoken about, as had the faith of the opposing coach he faced in a bowl game. There hadn't seemed to be any conspiracy to stifle these men's faith.

It gave me pause to think. We seem at times starved for heroes as Christians in America, and when one hits the spotlight, we latch on to them for all we're worth. In fact, this had begun to bother me a little.

Now, I have no problem with Christians being excited about popular Christian figures, but I sense at times we are excited about someone's Christian popularity more than their display of genuine Christianity.

What this woman, and others I spoke to that morning were excited about was not a boxing match. They were excited that someone famous was confessing Christ. I am also excited by this. There are many others who are using their fame and position to confess and witness Christ in their lives, and this is very applaudable. Yet, I fear it is becoming, at least in eyes of the press, commonplace.

In our world's eyes, someone who has been groomed all their life to be a stellar athlete, actor, personality, or musician and then achieved such success, is exciting -- it's news! When they then mention their Christian faith there is often surprise, but not usually astonishment. This information has a short news life, especially if the personality is later viewed throwing a cheap block, getting in a fight, a divorce, an affair or any other number of things which regrettably happen all too often.

Madge Rodda

On the other hand, the press does cover stories of people who are truly astonishing in the things they do, even though nothing else about them is astonishing or newsworthy. I think, for example, of our local paper's coverage of Madge Rodda. If the name sounds familiar to you, it shouldn't. She doesn't have any new CD's out, and isn't splashed all over the cover of Newsweek. She is simply an elderly woman living in Southern California. She enjoys playing the organ in the wee hours of the morning, and it is this activity which was the beginning of the most amazing story.

One morning, after finishing playing the organ, she visited an all night restaurant. Upon entering the women's restroom, she was attacked by a man who had been lying in wait. In that room her assailant violently sexually assaulted her, and robbed her, and then left, cutting her throat almost from ear to ear. Finally someone heard the struggle, and the man was chased, caught and imprisoned. Miraculously, Madge survived the ordeal, but that isn't the newsworthy part even yet, not at least in Southern California.

During the attack, Madge Rodda prayed continually, and her hooded assailant heard her. He finally stopped, and before leaving, said to her, "I believe in God, too, but Satan has poisoned my mind."

This is where the newsworthy part begins. In court, Madge Rodda presented her assailant with two things: a Bible and forgiveness. Her attacker was shamed, and asked through his attorney how she could forgive him.

Her answer was "It isn't natural." If you haven't already guessed, Madge Rodda is a Christian, the real thing.

The judge complimented her strength, the prosecutor called it refreshing, and even the defense attorney for her assailant called it a chance for healing on both sides. In the two days she spent in the hospital, Madge received a slew of nurses, court appointed counselors and doctors who kept telling her she needed to vent her frustration and rage. She needed to talk about it, they said, and tell everyone how terrible it is.

Madge was politely uncooperative. She kept saying, "I don't have any frustration and rage." As she later explained, "There was never any time when I didn't forgive him. No one else in the world may love this man, but God loves him." Madge planned to visit her assailant while he was in jail.

Madge Rodda cannot KO Mike Tyson, she cannot run for over 2,000 yards in a season, and she will probably never release a best selling CD. Madge Rodda has nothing that would place her in the public eye -- except a faith and love for God so deep and genuine that it overcame the deepest pain and humiliation. Maybe the press knows what's really news after all, and it is us who need to learn.

Chris Carrier

Maybe that's why they also reported about Chris Carrier. Never heard of him? Not surprising. Chris is involved in Christian ministry as a youth pastor, but that's hardly the stuff of news. No, what caught their eye was his story. You see, when Chris was 10 years old, in 1974, he stepped off his school bus and vanished. Six days later a hunter found him 75 miles from home, sitting on a rock in the Everglades, dazed and bruised.

Someone had poked him with an ice pick, burned him with cigarettes, then shot him. The bullet entered his right temple, exiting his left, leaving his left eye blind and barely able to open.

A man named David McAllister, an ex-convict, was the prime suspect. He was a nurse who had tended to Chris's elderly uncle, and had been fired for drinking. However, though he strongly resembled the composite drawing of the assailant, no physical evidence ever linked him to the crime.

The investigator originally assigned to the case in 1975, learned McAllister was in a North Miami Beach nursing home. After interviewing him three times, he got McAllister to admit to the kidnapping.

When Chris Carrier, now 32, found out where his assailant was, he visited McAllister, and forgave him. Instead of harboring bitterness for the trauma he caused, Chris began to visit him every day to read him the Bible. The two became friends. As Chris would say, "Nobody would imagine that I would shake the hand that tried to kill me. (But) when I look at him, I don't stare at my abductor and potential murderer. I stare at a man, very old, very alone and scared."

Chris says he is happy he has been able to show McAllister that, except for his eye, he was not permanently scarred. The accompanying photo to the article showed Chris leaning gently over a gaunt and aged man lying in a hospital bed, while his two-year-old daughter Amanda looks on. If this isn't the stuff of heroes, I'm sure I don't know what is. And this is news!

Chris will never pose with a Heisman trophy, or have his name light up the silver screen, however I have a sneaking suspicion that in heaven, Chris will be one very special person. And this is what makes me think that perhaps we have our priorities backwards in our search for heroes.

Honoring the Wrong Things?

We wait and hope that already famous people will become Christians, or that those already famous believers will confess their faith with the lights on and cameras rolling. We can then go hear them speak at conferences, watch them perform, read their biographies, and hold them up to our children as "heroes" of the faith.

Somehow we seem strangely validated as believers when we can point to a Christian who has achieved some measure of fame and fortune, and the press and our world are forced to then acknowledge it. Perhaps we desire power more than we are willing to admit.

But that is precisely the point. What is the power of the Christian life? How does it manifest itself?

Truthfully, few of us can ever hope to achieve what contemporary heroes of sports, theater and music can. It is simply beyond our reach. But which one of us are unable to forgive a hurt of deep intensity? When no one in the world would blame us for seeking revenge and showing bitterness, and we not only forgive, but retaliate boldly with love -- that's news! This is the stuff of which heavenly heroes are made.

It was our ultimate hero who said, in Luke 6:27-28, "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

That statement was news then, and it's still news today. Our Lord lived a life that was newsworthy in every respect.

I smile and applaud when a public personality confesses their Christian faith on the platform God put them on. But people like Madge Rodda and Chris Carrier, and dozens of other folks I've met who have displayed Christ-likeness in a most amazing manner have become my true heroes.

Surrounded by Heavenly Heroes

I find, in fact, that I am surrounded by them. A week ago a man died in our church. He was in his 60's, and his death wasn't terribly surprising. But my beloved friend was slightly mentally retarded.

He had come to our church four years ago because one family in our fellowship had met him while walking. They reached out to him and took him to an evangelistic crusade where he went forward and confessed Christ in his childlike faith.

They then brought him to our church. His social awkwardness and immaturity were frequently and easily visible, but our fellowship reached out and loved him with patience and compassion. Several families included him in family camping trips, others paid for his way to our men's retreat, while others took him to movies, or invited him over for Easter or Christmas. Then our beloved friend got cancer, an incredibly fast growing type of cancer that put him quickly in the hospital.

He was visited by many who brought him cards, letters, pictures and comic books. Some read the Bible to him, others just sat and held his hand. When the end was near, and he was sent home to die, and became slowly unconscious, that didn't stop the visitors who still came -- to the amazement of family and friends.

Our beloved friend is now in heaven with Jesus, and his mind is clear as a bell. He is no longer lonely, which was the bane of his earthly existence. But his 95-year-old mother, who didn't attend our church, has since become the focus of these "heroes." A few days after her elderly son died, a woman in our church put aside her fears and misgivings, and visited her, sharing the gospel with her and leading her in a sinner's prayer. Only days later, she suffered a massive stroke, leaving her paralyzed and unable to speak.

But still they come, these heroes of heaven. They speak to her, pray with her, hold her hand and reassure her there is a God who loves her. After all this, how could she doubt it?

Heavenly heroes abound all around me. I am learning to discern them with my eyes, not simply my ears. Sharing one's spotlight with Jesus, or even crediting Him with it, is always commendable, but in all its glitz and glamour, it does not compare with the witness of an ordinary Christian allowing Christ to live through him in an extraordinary way.

These modern day descendants of Hebrews 11 play to an audience of only One. So hail to all of you heavenly heroes, the eternal spotlight is being prepared.

And by the way, thanks! You continually show me what it means to be a real disciple of Jesus. You are truly heaven's heroes. 

Dan Schaeffer is senior pastor of Foothills Evangelical Free Church in Rancho Santa Margarita, California.

Return to Plain Truth Ministries Home Page