I love heroic stories. If well told, they provide great enjoyment as well as behavior that ought to be emulated. While there are different types of heroes, one standard type of hero is one who vanquishes chaos and disorder from the land and returns life to its inhabitants, usually at a great personal cost. There are many stories in the Bible that tell this heroic narrative. Creation is an account of God ordering the chaos and bringing life to it. In Ruth, Naomi’s life is a wasteland, bereft of a family, but Ruth and Boaz bring her life through their selfless devotion. Furthermore, Jesus’ entire mission was to turn the sin-scape that is this world into a world that is full of life (ζωή, zōē).

As Christians, our mission is to be God’s image-bearers along with Christ. Our quest is a continuation of Christ’s quest: we are to be heroes who bring life into the world. We do this by conforming to his image and by spreading the good news of Christ and doing good to others. We cannot accomplish this quest by remaining in our comfort zone. It involves going to the darkest places in our community and spreading God’s love to everyone. We must heal the land and rid it of the chaos and destruction of sin. My challenge to you is for you to view your life in this way: as a hero on a divinely ordained quest to spread God’s light and love to the most barren places on earth.