Do you have C.B.S. (Christian Biography Syndrome)?

'In that case I won't read it' was the response of a Christian friend of mine, on learning that the biography she held in her hand was a little critical of one of her spiritual heroes. She went on: 'I am struggling in my faith at the moment and I am not sure that I could cope with the demolition of another one of my champions.' My friend is the victim of Christian Biography Syndrome!

Christian biographies are essential reading. There is nothing more compelling than reading about men and women whose lives have been transformed by the gospel and whose life-story is the outworking of the grace of God. The problem we have is that so many biographies are written by the subject's admirers, whose aim is as much to safeguard a legacy, as it is to write good history. What so often emerges are stirring stories of great faith and the details of the achievements of great men and women. Such stories are gripping, but of little use to ordinary sinners trying to live out the Christian faith. The whitewashed images of 'great-Christians' with which we are so often presented create the impression that God has created a special class of 'saints', separate from the rest of us, through whom to achieve his purpose. Unaware readers can find themselves assuming that if they are to be used by God in any significant way, they must first experience some mystical translation to this upper rank of believers.

Biblical view of heroes

In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible's view of heroes is: 'We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us' (2 Corinthians 4.7). This picture is of the perfect will of God unfolding in this world through deeply flawed and limited people. Doesn't the Bible go out of its way to point out the faults of so many of its great characters?

That is not to say that there is no link between holiness and usefulness, Paul makes it clear in 2 Timothy 2.20-26 that there certainly is; how-ever, it means that this holiness is worked at, worked out and is often a great spiritual battle. Where our Christian biographers so frequently err is that they do not tell us about these struggles and battles, and present faith-heroes to us who seem to be completely immune to the difficulties that living in this world gives us!

Such unrealistic portraits may even be (unintentionally) idolatrous, in that in assessing these life-achievements, the glory is wrongly apportioned. If in life great preachers have sought to ensure that people place their faith directly in Christ and not in them - our biographers have all too often failed to continue this effort after the subject's death. Misplaced glory results in misplaced faith. This is, of course, where my friend with whom we started, has gone wrong. Her faith in the truth of the gospel had undergone a shift, and was based increasingly on the evidences of grace in noted individuals, rather than on Christ himself. Errors in her hero then felt like a threat to the faith.

She should, I think, have gone on to read the critical biography of her hero. The achievements of his life remain a matter of historical fact; the fact that God achieved all this in a clearly-less-than-perfect individual is thrilling! To read of the struggles of the great, as well as their triumphs, is a matter of real encouragement, not mere escapist daydreaming. It spurs me on in my struggle with sin, with faith, with the world, the flesh and the devil. It also stimulates me in the 'small' work that I can do for God now. My life may not add up to much, and certainly will not merit a biography, but that does not mean consignment to spiritual redundancy. Rather, I sense, called again to my small daily challenge.

Do you have C.B.S. (Christian Biography Syndrome)?

Biblical view of heroes

Gavin Matthews

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