Suffering mocking, flogging, chains, imprisonment, being stoned to death, sawn in half, killed by the sword, wearing the skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented, wandering in deserts, mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground (Hebrews 11:36-38)

[Card Talk for All Saints' Day & Halloween]

Chapter 11 of Hebrews is preached from, or at least referenced, often in many churches. On the surface this is for good reasons. The chapter starts with a Torah history lesson on faith.

It begins in Genesis with the creation of the cosmos, before turning to the faithful examples set by Abel and Enoch, Noah and Abraham.  It then moves to Exodus and Moses’ life and the crossing of the Red/Reed Sea. Skipping Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (like most people do when reading through the Bible), it enters the Promised Land in Joshua, the siege of Jericho, Rahab, and the spies. It then blows a whirl-wind through Judges, Samuel, Kings, and the rest of the Nevi’im by naming Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel, as well as laying out the litany of schemes and sacrifices made by people of faith, from which our card is derived. This passage is often called "the heroes of the faith."

We revere these people because they are heralded here as those who lived by their faith, were justified by their faith. In fact, the writer of Hebrews introduces this role call of characters at the end of chapter 10, quoting the passage in Habakkuk we've written about in the past. They are "saints," the "righteous."

After we are presented with examples of faithful people, chapter 12 calls the potentially faithful reader/hearer of the epistle's words to action:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1)

All of this seem simple enough. Appropriate even. 

However, we would like to submit that good Christians tend to read and apply this passage incorrectly because we do not fully understand what the “cloud of witnesses,” the heroes of the faith, really represent. The Greek word tosoutos  translated as “great” doesn’t mean “morally superior” or “good,” it simply means “large in number.” The verse is not saying that these figures were perfect examples of faith. It is saying that there is a great number of people we can look to. But they are still only people. Flawed people, who were more faithful some times than others, just like the rest of us. 

They aren’t examples, they are warnings.  

Just review the history of these heroes.

A Down and Dirty Summary of the Heroes of the Faith

• Noah never told a single person about the genocidal waters coming their way [Card Talk], which might be why he got black out drunk after getting off the ark (prior to the awkward sexual encounter with his son [Card Talk]).

• Abraham lied about who his wife was, twice, and repeatedly tried to manufacture God’s promise of his nation-building loins on his own (c.f. Lot, Eliazer, Ishmael).

• Moses was a murderer, who tried to talk his way out of being a prophet (multiple times before and during the Exodus), and ended up displeasing God so much that he was killed by God instead of being allowed to enter the Promised Land.

• Barak wasn’t so bad, but let's be honest, he didn’t do much. Which is the issue. He didn't have the courage to do as God commanded without Deborah [Card Talk] to hold his hand (and maybe that's why her name is missing from the list: she doesn't suck like the others did. #WomenInTheBibleTendToBeTheOnesWhoAreActuallyHoly #BiblicalFeminism)

• Gideon, the "doubting Thomas" of the Hebrew Bible. He's famously known for testing God, repeatedly, to see if he'll even do God’s will. A man whose story ends with his constructing golden idols for the people to worship in place of YHWH (as if he completely missed how badly the whole golden calf incident [Card Talk] went). A man who raised sons who were not fit to judge a grape press for soundness, let alone the Hebrew tribes.

• Samson: dear Lord. We've written a long Card Talk about Samson already, so we won't rehash that here. There is nothing redeemable about his story, at all. Nothing. Not one thing. And Sunday School teachers need to get that right. The whole story is a cautionary tale about being led by the desires of the flesh/eyes instead of a heart toward God. He is not a moral example, or a faithful person, at all. At all. AT ALL.

• Jephthah killed his own daughter after making a rash vow to God [Card Talk], a vow God didn’t ask for. A faithful man would have repented of it and trusted that God would not kill him, or would take the hit for his child. Heck, we would expect any parent to die for a child, especially when they have two months to think over how much she means to them.

• David. Oh David. Kills men to take their wives (repeatedly, but here's one example [Card Talk]) and then lies to cover it up. He is a crap father, who cries over his children, but doesn’t raise them well or punish their reckless behavior, and it causes the downfall of the whole united monarchy. Oh and then he gives one of them a kill-list, full of relatives, from his deathbed. The man after God’s own heart.

Our point is not to take down all these great heroes of the faith. It is to point out that they were just like us. At times completely sinful and faithless.

The language of our card speaks to the torment some of these heroes suffered, both the biblical figures named, as well as the unnamed women and men who were (and are still today) mocked, beaten, imprisoned, and even killed for the sake of God's kingdom. Good people who sacrificed for the faith. But this does not mean they were sinless or without blame. They were, they are, also human with hidden and not so hidden faults. 

So let's rephrase Hebrews 12:1-2:

Since we have such a large number of imperfect, human examples like this, we know that we must work to get rid of weight and sin in our own lives. When we do this we can run with, endeavoring to not give up, as we keep our eyes on Jesus, someone who WAS perfect in faith and action. 

The purpose of passage is where we place our eyes. 

As we say, those heroes aren't perfect. Our earthly heroes never are. They often fall from our pedestals of esteem. Sometimes they get back up. In the end, many of the people mentioned turned back to God, they were eventually faithful, they got it right. Other never did, but we can still learn from their mistakes.

Regardless we are not called to follow them. We're called to look at He who was tempted in all ways, yet without sin. He who did not get distracted by an empty stomach, parlor tricks, or a chance at fame, to say nothing of a pretty face, a shiny object, or deep seated anxiety. He was focused on the will of the Father. Period. 

Perhaps we need to look toward these heroes of the faith in a new way, recognizing their flaws more than their faith.

Perhaps we should ask what we need to drop from our lives. What "weight" are we carrying? What "sins" do we hide?

Perhaps it's time to start looking toward Jesus and asking what is it you must take up for His sake and your own?

Perhaps we it's time you finally...

But what do we know: we made this game and you probably think we're going to Hell.