Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

Drawing from the movie The Incredibles, Goff notes the advice given to superheroes to avoid capes, which parallels Jesus’s instructions to those he healed to “Tell no one” (160). Goff suggests that in a world preoccupied with self-promotion, Jesus presents an alternative: to be “secretly incredible.” This concept defies the trend of publicizing every good act and instead calls for quiet, selfless deeds, known only to God.

Goff critiques the culture of mission statements and public declarations of faith, proposing that such things are not essential. He believes actions speak louder than words and that the true measure of one’s faith and mission is found in what one does, not what one says. He encourages living out one’s faith authentically without seeking recognition, emphasizing that the most profound impact is made through simple acts of “awesomeness” done in secrecy.

He cites the story of Judas (Thaddeus) as an example of a “just us” person, someone without fame or recognition but still significant in God’s plan. Goff sees value in the unrecognized, the humble, and the overlooked, asserting that God uses “just us” people to accomplish great things. He concludes by reinforcing the idea that true awesomeness and impact in God's kingdom come from being discreet, much like the unnamed friends who lowered a man through a roof to Jesus in the Gospels.