Let’s begin with a frequently-misunderstood passage,
Hebrews 12.1-2 KWL - 1 Consequently we, being greatly encircled by a cloud of witnesses,
- throwing away every training weight and easily-distracting sin,
- can enduringly run the race lying before us,
- 2 looking at the start and finish of our faith, Jesus.
- Instead of the joy lying before him, Jesus endured a cross, dismissing the shame.
- Now he sits at the right of God’s throne!
This is a sports metaphor. Since we do track and field events a little differently than the ancient Romans did, stands to reason Christians will mix up some of the ideas. The “cloud of witnesses” among them: It refers to the runners. It’s our fellow Christian witnesses, running through dirt, kicking up dust. Since today’s stadiums use polyurethane and rubber tracks—so we can actually see the runners, not a massive dust cloud—we don’t recognize
So now lemme bring up John C. Maxwell’s book
The book begins with Maxwell envisioning a stadium with Christian track ’n field going on. From time to time, a great figure from the bible comes down from the “cloud of witnesses” in the stands, to encourage us runners. They’re not running with us, in Maxwell’s imagination; they’re all done. Now they have stories and life lessons to share; which is the point of the book.
After getting these life lessons from Abraham, Esther, Joseph, Moses, and Noah, by the sixth chapter Maxwell was so jazzed about all their good advice, he “can’t wait to act on the empowerment I have received” from them, “to put it to good use.” Maxwell 79
Except none of it came from them. Maxwell put all the words in their mouths. As anybody who knows historical context can tell, ’cause very little of what he imagined his “bible characters” said, are what they’d actually say. Far more what a present-day motivational speaker says.