Ordinary Men

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13

Unschooled, ordinary men were the men who turned the Roman Empire and the world upside down. They were unschooled in regards to the religious jargon and tradition of the day, and they were ordinary in that there was nothing about them that stood out and made you take notice. They were blue collar, hardworking men who didn’t have degrees, fame, visibility or stature. But there was something very distinctive about them, something that resulted in astonishment among the lawyers, political leaders, and professional religious leaders of their day.

First, the Holy Spirit records through Luke’s pen that they were seen to be “courageous”. They were courageous because they had no fear of man, and that is very rare. When questioned harshly about healing a man crippled from birth, they testified of the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus to the very men who had crucified Him. They were unafraid of speaking the truth, and unafraid of the consequences. When threatened their response was, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Where there is a holy fear of God, there is no fear of man.

Their ordinariness turned extra ordinary was also a powerful testimony of God’s work in their lives. He takes very ordinary people, men and women who are the “least” in the eyes of the world and makes them extra ordinary. When a man is born again, he is marked with the mark of God on his life. God writes His name on our foreheads, and fills us with His Spirit. He takes the fearful and gives them great boldness, the insecure and gives them great confidence, and makes lowly uneducated fisherman strong and gifted leaders. He uses our human weakness to manifest the great strength of His grace, and confounds the world’s wisdom with the apparent “foolishness” of the message of the cross. Yes, the follower of Jesus is anything but ordinary.

It also says, “They took note that these men had been with Jesus.” No greater compliment can be given to a man or a woman. To have it be evident that we have been “with Him” is the goal of our being sent to the world. Had He wanted to remove us from this world when we first believed, He could have easily just “snatched” us up right then. But He didn’t; He left us to testify and reveal the Kingdom of God to a lost and dying world.

God isn’t looking for “super” Christians in this day. He is looking for ordinary men and women who will walk with Him, whom He can cause to become courageous ambassadors of reconciliation as they live out their lives as His new creation in this dying world. You are those who will confound the wise and shame the strong. You are the extra-ordinary, courageous ones He now sends out; you and I, ordinary people.

R. Martinez