Skip to main content

An Example


Following In His Fathers Footsteps High-Res Stock Photo - Getty Images

As Christians, we are exhorted to be examples to others.  Christian parents teach their children to be examples to others -to younger siblings, to peers in school, etc.  But it raises the question... an example of what?
"Well, we are to be a light."

Okay, I agree.  But a light to what?  To whom?  This needs to be fleshed out a bit more, I think.  Otherwise, we can easily run the risk of being an example of something other than we intend.

I've talked to young teens who are raised in wonderful Christian families who feel the pressure to be an example to people, and they have struggled because they have thought this means that they never laugh at inappropriate things, they never complain, never show any negative emotions, etc.  They almost feel as though they have to be perfect, and while they are very sweet and well-meaning, it can sometimes end in a result they don't want.  It can just make peers feel bad.  They aren't pointed to Christ.  They aren't encouraged.  They flip-flop back and forth between feeling like they aren't good kids, and aren't good Christians, because they aren't "perfect" like this peer of theirs.  Or they wind up just feeling awkward around this friend, not being able to put their finger on why, because it seems like their friend cannot relate to real life... at least not to theirs.

"Ah.  But that's just because they are young in their faith.  And plus, teens... they tend to be a tad insecure and compare themselves to each other too much, anyway."

Yes, I agree.  But it doesn't stop with our youth.  It is found in our adults, as well.  That same feeling of alienation is felt by people who join a Bible study or women's group and are met with people who, honestly, try a bit too hard to keep up appearances.  Rather than being able to reach and encourage people who may need genuine help and discipleship, these folks who seek to be a godly example just wind up making them feel bad or pushing them away with what appears to be fake religious pretense.

"But maybe they should feel bad."

This is what I sincerely question.  A person should experience repentance over sin, but that is not necessarily the same as feeling "bad" or ashamed simply because you don't fit in with people who act like their life is perfect and they have it all figured out.  Feeling excluded because you don't fit the mold of this nebulous, quasi-artificial, culturally informed idea of "Christian righteousness" is not the same thing as repentance at all.

So it brings us back to the original question.  What are we to be examples of?

We are to be examples of people who love Jesus, who live by the Gospel, who blow it but have the humility to admit it and trust in Christ and the power of His Holy Spirit to cleanse us and bring us to glory.  We are to be examples of daily repentance, of humility, of love.  We are to be examples of people who have a living hope.

This doesn't mean we make all of our private business public knowledge.  We don't need to go around talking about all of our deepest sins and personal problems to everyone who crosses our path.  But being an example of the grace of God in our lives fundamentally means that we don't shut people out and hide behind a mask of artificial perfection, either.  Holiness, at the end of the day, is primarily about faith and dependence on the grace of God.  That is where the fruit comes from.

It isn't easy.  As honest and humble as we seek to be, we will still be labeled, "no fun" and "fake" by some and "not Christian enough" by others.  I guess it's a good thing that we stand before the Lord for ourselves, only. :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Tale of Two Stories

 Martin Luther, the 16th century German reformer, is one of my heroes.  Among many things, Luther taught that there are two fundamental stories in this life:  the glory story and the story of the cross.  The glory story is the natural story of all of us, fueled by our desire to secure some kind of identity and security and significance for ourselves in the face of what we know is there: our finite limitations and, ultimately, our death.  The story of the cross, on the other hand, teaches us that the glory story is essentially a lie.  There is no path to self-glory, to self-security.  It's a myth, a closed circle that ends in death.  In fact, my addiction to my glory story is my real problem.  It chains me to myself, curves me inward selfishly.  But what the cross story offers us, in our union with Christ, is freedom through death to the glory story and resurrection to the new creation where we now belong to Someone and something bigger t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Love Creates Love

 John was by all appearances a good husband.  He always remembered their anniversary, and was diligent in doing things like helping his wife with the kids, buying her flowers, and being kind to her.  He read all the right books, was part of the latest fad movements in the Church that focused on man's responsibility, and he even led men's ministries to help teach other men how to do what he did. It was their tenth anniversary, and John was certainly not going to forget that.  He came home early from work with a bouquet of long stemmed roses.  His wife opened the door, and he handed her the roses.  "Oh, thank you, John! I love them!" she said.  Confidently, he replied, "Think nothing of it.  I'm just doing my duty like I always do!"  Upon these words, her countenance dropped.  The roses fell to the ground, and she turned and headed to the bedroom in tears. Bewildered, John’s first reaction was to become angry.  After all, as he played...
Post a Comment
Read more

Law and Gospel Distinction Example

Below is an example of how the proper distinction between Law and Gospel is both practical and pastoral.   Chesterton's quote "We fear men so much because we fear God so little.  One fear cures another," is true, for all I understand.  I remember reading a whole book on this subject called "When People are Big and God is Small."  I was desperate to find a solution to what I was painfully experiencing, which some had diagnosed (and which I self-diagnosed from reading too many internet articles) as "fear of man."   I remember as I began reading the book, I was excited.  Many things written in the book resonated with me, and I had some hope.  But as I approached the end of the book, my countenance and hope had fallen.  Why?  In retrospect, I believe it's because though I had hoped for a solution, something I can do to change this, to free myself, and the truth is that the book was long on diagnosis and very short on a useful prescripti...
Post a Comment
Read more