Are You a Hero?

 

Are you a hero?  I don’t mean are you superman.  What I mean is, how do you react during an emergency?  Do you freeze up or jump into action?  Some of us have never been in a situation like this and can only speculate.  This was not the case for Stephen St. Bernard, a 53-year-old bus driver.

Last month at his Brooklyn, N.Y. apartment building, he arrived to see a crowd outside.  They were all looking up at a 7-year-old girl who was dancing on top of an air-conditioning unit hanging from the window.  St. Bernard hurried up to the building.  All that was on his mind was, “Maybe I can catch her.”  As he moved under the window, the girl slipped and fell.  St. Bernard caught the girl, but not without consequences.  It is estimated that the falling girl brought 600 pounds of force onto Stephen’s arms.  The force tore muscles, tendons, and nerves in his arm and needed surgical repair.  Despite the pain and discomfort he was in, he selflessly stated, "Not a scratch was on that baby."  Stephen St. Bernard is definitely a valiant hero.

Most of us have probably not been in a situation like this.  However, this does not mean we are not and cannot be heroes.  It is one thing to save someone’s life; it is another to save someone’s soul.  What could be more heroic than saving someone from an eternity in hell?

Think about the last time you could have shared Christ with someone.  Did you jump into action, or did you freeze up?  Did you prove to be a hero under the pressure, or just another face in the crowd?

Here is a reminder of Jesus’ command to us in Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This command is not just for preachers, elders, and evangelists.  This command is for me and this command is for you.  We all would like to think we would jump into action and be a hero like St. Bernard if someone’s life was on the line.  Yet sometimes we cannot even talk to others about the hero that saved our own souls, Christ the Lord!  Now is the time to show what we are made of.  It’s time we step up and be spiritual heroes.