We love heroes—and we should. They are the men and women who willingly give themselves for a higher cause—firemen who save lives, policemen who protect us, and military heroes who pay the ultimate sacrifice.

You don't have to wear a uniform to be a hero, though. Mothers who give every waking breath for their children, and fathers who nobly lead their homes are also heroes.

There is something in every hero, even if it's only a temporary surge, that makes them recognizable: courage. In every heroic act, someone boldly puts his or her life on the line for something greater and better. Fear is forgotten, and a stronger spirit prevails.

The church today desperately needs heroes. The hour is late, and people's need for Christ is massive. For Christ's kingdom to advance, He needs followers to courageously lay down lesser regards for personal comfort, monetary gain, personal reputation, and other trivial interests. We must willingly tell others the most important thing—the gospel—regardless of the cost.

The Leader's Role

This advance must be led by pastors who embody courageous leadership, for our people rise no higher than our example. The fear of man is paralyzing:

• It causes us to stop dead in our tracks.
• It keeps us from going forward to do what is necessary.
• It completely aborts initiative.
• It shrinks direction down to what we think we can do without bothering anyone or losing our reputation.

There are many courageous pastors, but most authentic leaders desire to overcome this immobilizing fear in greater ways.

One hallmark of the Jerusalem church in its infancy is its lack of fear. Something happened that transformed the quaking disciples, huddled in an upper room, into a mighty band who proclaimed, "We must obey God rather than men" and who rejoiced that they were worthy to suffer for the Lord's name. What overcame their fear?

A Surrendered Body

It begins here. One of the great Romanian pastors during the Communist regime, Josef Tson, said that their church in Oradea turned when its people began learning the true meaning of surrender. When "taking up the cross" was seen for what it really is—not a spiritualized statement but a literal willingness to give one's physical body to Christ—the people became fearless.

It is, in the secular sense, why today's terrorists are unstoppable. They have no regard for personal safety. What can you do to a man who doesn't care what you do to him? He is unstoppable.

Comfort, ease, and reputation—everything that protects our physical bodies—must be nailed to the cross for the Master if we are to overcome and prevail. We must realize and deal with the fact that the fear of man is nothing more than the love of self.

A Compelling Cause

The early church purely understood their calling, because the people heard their commission straight from the Master. They were focused on what mattered. It's amazing to see how a cause makes a hero. Consider a military leader consumed with his mission, or a parent willing to do anything for his or her child.

Understanding our mission until it grips our soul makes what others think of us irrelevant. Suddenly a Martin Luther is nailing 95 theses on the Wittenburg door because the truth that sets men free is at stake.

As pastors, we must return to our mission. We must stay before God's Word and in His presence long enough to be overcome by our life purpose. We must be lashed to our calling and cause to such an extent that we willingly do anything to advance its cause.

A Greater Spirit

With all of our resolve, though, we still huddle in upper rooms. We need a greater spirit—the Spirit of God—to overwhelm us. The disciples in Acts 1 were empowered by Pentecost. Their followers in Acts 4 were fearful until the place they were in was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit; then they went out and spoke the word of God with boldness (v. 31).

Courage comes from the consuming fire of God's Spirit. If we don't walk in His power, we will cower at the first sign of trouble; walking in His Spirit's fullness is what gives supernatural spiritual adrenaline. Anything that quenches or grieves His Spirit must be abandoned.

The Urgent Need

We need heroes. They frame for us a picture of a higher life. Their courage releases us from enslaving fear and gives us freeing hope that, given the right circumstances, there may be something greater in all of us.

Current Christian history is being written every day, and it desperately needs a hero like you.