1. Who taught Martin Luther his theology and inspired his translation of the New Testament?
2. Who visited Dwight L. Moody at a shoe store and spoke to him about Christ?
3. Who was the wife of Charles Haddon Spurgeon?
4. Who was the elderly woman who prayed faithfully for Billy Graham for over twenty years?
5. Who financed William Carey’s ministry in India?
6. Who refreshed the apostle Paul in a Roman dungeon as he wrote his last letter to Timothy?
7. Who helped Charles Wesley get underway as a composer of hymns?
8. Who found the Dead Sea Scrolls?
9. Who followed Hudson Taylor and gave the China Inland Mission its remarkable direction?
10. Who were the parents of the godly and gifted prophet Daniel?
Okay, how did you do? Over fifty percent? Maybe twenty-five percent? Not quite that good? Before you excuse your inability to answer the questions by calling the quiz “trivia,” better stop and think. Had it not been for those unknown people - those “nobodies” - a huge chunk of church history would be missing, and a lot of lives would have been untouched.
Nobodies.
What a necessary band of men and women... servants of the King... yet nameless in the kingdom! Men and women who, with silent heroism, yet faithful diligence, relinquish the limelight and live in the shade of public figures. What was it Jim Elliot, the martyred messenger of the gospel to the Aucas, once called missionaries? Something like a bunch of nobodies trying to exalt Somebody.
But don’t mistake anonymous for unnecessary. Otherwise, the whole Body gets crippled - even paralyzed... or, at best, terribly dizzy as the majority of the members within the Body become diseased with self-pity and discouragement. Face it, friend, the Head of the Body calls the shots. It is His prerogative to publicize some and hide others. Don’t ask me why He chooses whom He uses. If it’s His desire to use you as a Melanchthon rather than a Luther... or a Kimball rather than a Moody... or an Onesiphorus rather than a Paul, relax!
Better than that, give God praise! You’re among that elite group mentioned in I Corinthians 12 as: ...some of the parts that seemed weakest and least important are really the most necessary... So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that might otherwise seem less important (vv. 22,24, TLB).
If it weren’t for the heroic “nobodies,” we wouldn’t have top-notch officers to give a church its leadership or quality sound when everyone shows up to worship or janitors who clean when everyone is long gone or committees to provide dozens of services behind the scenes or mission volunteers who staff offices at home or work in obscurity overseas with only a handful of people. Come to think of it, if it weren’t for the faithful “nobodies,” you wouldn’t even have this [paper] in your hands right now.
Nobodies. . . exalting Somebody.
Are you one? Listen to me! It’s the “nobodies” Somebody chooses so carefully. And when He has selected you for that role, He does not consider you a nobody. Be encouraged!
Chuck Swindoll
www.insight.org