Q:
Please define hero of the Faith.
A:
A hero of the Faith is someone
who shows extraordinary courage
to lead, to do the right thing, some-
times in times of great adversity. It
is someone extraordinary, someone
out of the ordinary. Courage al-
ways seems to come to mind when
I think of a hero, a person who
stands above the others.
.......................
Q:
Who in church history do you
think fits this description?
A:
The first person I think of is
Martin Luther. He certainly dem-
onstrated those attributes. His
life was even on the line for do-
ing the right thing, for saying the
right thing and for being the kind
of leader that the Bible calls for.
That is a leader who has power
but doesn't abuse the power, who
uses that power for the sake of the
Kingdom and therefore has author-
ity. Authority is the recognition
that a person is using his or her
power as a shepherd of the people.
The second one that comes to
mind would be Dietrich Bonhoef-
fer, a man who showed such cour-
age and conviction, such biblical
faith in the midst of genuine strife
and ultimately sacrificing his life.
There have been heroes in the
Army as well. Of course, William
and Catherine Booth.
A more up-to-date person
would be General Frederick
Coutts. He was a man of great
courage, great conviction. He was a
leader who stood above other lead-
ers because of that, yet he served
with a servant's heart and so he
had great authority. In the biblical
sense, people recognized that he
had power but didn't abuse it, us-
ing it for the sake of the Kingdom
.
.......................
Q:
Which is a greater factor,
circumstances or character?
A:
That's a good question. Is it
nature or nurture, which comes
first? It's kind of circular, that cir-
cumstances sometimes produce
the character and the character is
able to withstand difficult circum-
stances. Dietrich
Bonhoeffer was
a great person to
start with, very
intelligent, very
reflective. But it
was the circum-
stances of Nazi
Germany that
brought out the
very best in him,
courage that he
didn't realize he
had. It was the
courage of his
convictions lead-
ing ultimately to
his death. It is
more circular than
one coming before the other. They
play off of each other.
.......................
Q:
Who is your personal hero
of the Faith?
A:
One unrecognized hero of the
Faith was my paternal grandfa-
ther. He was really a wonderfully
committed Salvation Army officer,
first in Newfoundland and then
in Toronto. Eventually he retired
and lived with us after his wife
died. He was not in the limelight.
He served the Lord and he served
the Kingdom in a wonderful, won-
derful, beautiful way and was cer-
tainly a model for me in my life.
He comes to mind always.
The second one would be Lt.
Colonel Lyell Rader. He received
the Order of the Founder in recog-
nition for his work. As a kid grow-
ing up and then into college and
seminary, Colonel Rader exempli-
fied that great courage, that great
ability. He was a great motivator
for us to be everything that God
wanted us to be and had a pro-
found influence on my own life.
.......................
Q:
What does a hero of the Faith
teach us?
A:
A hero of the Faith teaches us
that we can all rise above circum-
stances, we can all have the kind
of courage they had.
These are ordinary
people that God used
in extraordinary
ways. But that abil-
ity is in all of us.
Heroes of the Faith
teach us to be sen-
sitive to what God
wants us to do for
the sake of the King-
dom where He has
placed us. For many
of us that will be a
very ordinary
life doing our
best in ordi-
nary circum-
stances. But
one never knows when the circum-
stances will call for extraordinary
courage. They teach us always to
be prepared to respond to the cir-
cumstances, whether they be ordi-
nary or extraordinary, to always
be ready to do the bidding of the
Lord wherever He has placed you.
Never in his wildest dreams did
Martin Luther think that things
were going to happen the way they
did. Or, Bonhoeffer certainly never
thought that. Certainly Coutts
never thought he would be the
General of The Salvation Army.
But they were people with this
great extraordinary courage who
were ready to respond to what the
circumstances demanded.
12
The War Cry | SEPTEMBER 2013
Martin Luther
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
A Conversation
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8/16/13 1:55 PM