You’re in the Bible Even if You Don’t Realize It
According to The Biographical Bible, there are 3,237 named characters in the Bible. The mentions range from just names in genealogical lists to detailed, fully developed portraits.
Recently, our pastor challenged us to find ourselves in the Bible. “Which character’s story,” he asked, “most closely resembles yours?” The goal was not to identify who we want to be. Otherwise, most guys would gravitate toward David, Peter or one of the other impressive heroes. Instead, he asked us to decide whose story and circumstances most closely parallel ours.
I would like to pass this challenge along to you. With hundreds of people to pick from, you can almost certainly find at least one character with a story similar to yours.
Rather than just including its major characters’ triumphs, the Bible is surprisingly candid about their flaws:
Although Abraham was a great man of faith, he was also a coward who twice tried to pass his wife off as his sister to avoid possible danger from hostile rulers (Genesis12 and 20)
David was a triumphant warrior, an inspiring leader, and a gifted poet but also an adulterer, a murderer, and a terrible dad.
Despite his impressive leadership skills, Peter also had the habit of speaking and acting well before thinking.
Some of the Bible’s less prominent individuals showed great strength and faithfulness:
Boaz (who ended up marrying the destitute Ruth), was a man of great integrity (Book of Ruth).
·The prophet Hosea was willing to follow God’s instructions to marry a prostitute to illustrate God’s willingness to reclaim the wayward people of Israel (Book of Hosea).
·The unnamed Centurion who recognized that Jesus could heal his servant without even being physically present received Jesus’ commendation (Matthew 8).
Other characters were less admirable:
Achan sinned by secretly stealing some of the bounty after the conquest of Jericho, violating God’s specific instructions (Joshua 7).
The prodigal son represents those who openly disregard God’s standards (Luke 15).
The prodigal’s older brother parallels the Pharisees’ rigid and graceless legalism.
So how about it? Which Bible character’s story most closely matches yours? And beyond just identifying your “spiritual doppelganger,” what lessons or insights you can learn from their circumstances and reactions. Did they turn to God? Did they act irresponsibly? Was their life changed for the positive?
How about you? How have you handled your circumstances?
For the record, my Bible “twin” is the man by the pool of Bethesda who was disabled for 38 years and who Jesus singled out for healing (John 5). There were many others present with great needs too. But for some reason, Jesus walked past them all and restored just the one man sitting by himself in the corner, leaving everyone else with their problems. Why did he select that man and no one else?
His story is a lot like mine. Faith was almost entirely absent from my upbringing. In fact, there was great indifference and even some hostility toward the church and Jesus’ claim to be the only way to God. I was also subjected to considerable emotional abuse by mentally ill people. Bottom line: there was virtually nothing in my background to predict that Jesus would change my life by singling me out and rescuing me from my depressingly dysfunctional circumstances.
In one of my favorite scenes from the awesome streaming TV series The Chosen, Simon the Zealot offers his allegiance and service to Jesus. Of course, Jesus accepts. But listen to what he tells Simon: “I have everything I need, but I wanted you.” I love that! Jesus wanted Simon, and he wanted me. He bypassed all kinds of people in my family and circle of friends to “get” me. I don’t understand why or take any credit for it, but I am eternally grateful.
I would love it if you would let me know who your spiritual doppelganger is, why you identify with them, and what you have learned from their story.