Q & A with Dr. Bob Burrelli

If the author of Hebrews is referring to this great cloud of witnesses to motivate us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us”, it is unlikely that he is referring to believers now in heaven observing us. In the first place, the notion that there is a group of people in heaven watching our every move would paralyze us more than encourage us. In the second place, it finds no support from the context of Hebrews 12. We are not called to impress those who have fallen asleep in Christ and are now with God in spirit, or to keep them from being disappointed by the way we live. In the third place, nowhere does Scripture teach that deceased believers know what is going on in our lives, much less encourage us with such a thought. We know only that angels observe the activities of the church (Ephesians 3:9, 10; Hebrews 13:2; 1 Peter 1:12) and that God is the only one from whose eye we cannot hide. O that we might learn to live with more of a God consciousness.

What does the phrase in Hebrews 12:1 mean? The context shows a group of people who are witnesses of God not of us, and that they testified to His loyal love by living by faith when they walked the earth. You will find them recorded in chapter 11. Though they have long since died, the record of their faithfulness still speaks to us, providing an example for us, motivating us to follow suit. Seeing how God was with them convinces us that God will be that way with us as well -- now that’s an encouragement.

Recently there has been, on the part of the church growth movement, a decisive move away from all that is past toward everything new and innovative. Out with the old and in with the new is the motto. Such a move comes dangerously close to disconnecting believers from their Christian heritage. Let’s be convinced that there is much in the past that has been recorded for our benefit, as Paul argues (1 Corinthians 10:6). Jude appeals to past examples of apostasy to explain the current apostasy that was taking place in the churches of his day (Jude 5-7). Our Lord commands us to do in remembrance of Him what He had done at his last Passover meal with his disciples, for the purpose of proclaiming the significance of his death until He returns (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). Indeed, the Bible records a history of salvation that gives us the context in which to proclaim the elements of the gospel.

Let us not abandon our legacy handed down to us by the faithful and stained in the blood of martyrs. For our sake, and the sake of the next generation, let us learn from it, be encouraged by it, and as living stones continue to build upon it with the same costly material with which it was laid.