To Be a Follower
I want to teach my children to be independent. I don't want them to be a follower but a leader. I want them to be the one in their group of friends who bucks the trend and does the right thing regardless what everyone else is doing.
There have been times when one of my girls will come home from school crying or down in the sorts because someone decided that they weren't going to be friends with them any longer. Of course the next day they were best buds. But I try to teach them that people are sometimes mean and don't know it and sometimes people are just mean and there is nothing that we can do about it. I try to teach them that they should treat people how they would want to be treated and make sure that they are not hurtful but stand up for the little guy.
Now I know this won't always work, but it is my job and duty as a parent to teach things. I try to live these out as well.
The trouble with living these things out is that you can get a label as not being very strong or being a pansy. If you are not being mean like the rest of your peers something must be wrong.
Labels can be good and bad. I remember when the label Christian was a good thing. In Acts 11 we are first introduced to the term Christian. In Adam Clarkes' commentary on this passage he hints that maybe the term was given by God. He basis this thought on the word chreematisai which is Greek for "were called" and that this term has the finer meaning of being appointed by a devine direction. I can see his point.
If this is the case then we have a lot of explaining to do. What do we "Christians" do to hold up the moniker? I must look at myself more than anything. Yet I hear what the "big time" TV Christians are doing in the name of God and they call themselves Christians. And maybe not just them but everyone else for that matter is giving the title Christian a bad rap.
There is another school of thought. When the disciples were first called Christian it was probably in reproach (Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary). The term may have not been very kind. If this is the case, most of us are living up to the title!
Furthering my disgust, is what politicians are doing with the term. They call themselves Christian but do nothing to show it. They tell me that if I am a Christian then I should vote the way they vote and I should support the candidate that they support and if I don't then I must not be one of them. What am I to do?
I've given up the name! I am no longer a Christian!
I can hear the gasps!
I am a follower of Christ. I believe that He and He alone is the way the truth and the life. I believe that He alone grants us the ability to approach the Throne of God. I believe that as I follow Him, I will have a better understanding of my Creator. I believe that He gives me the title Friend! And I believe that if I truly follow Him, then I will become Christ-like, but I will let Him make that decision because every time I think I am getting closer, I see how much further I've yet to go.
There's a proverb that goes like this:
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverbs 14:12 NIV
There have been times when one of my girls will come home from school crying or down in the sorts because someone decided that they weren't going to be friends with them any longer. Of course the next day they were best buds. But I try to teach them that people are sometimes mean and don't know it and sometimes people are just mean and there is nothing that we can do about it. I try to teach them that they should treat people how they would want to be treated and make sure that they are not hurtful but stand up for the little guy.
Now I know this won't always work, but it is my job and duty as a parent to teach things. I try to live these out as well.
The trouble with living these things out is that you can get a label as not being very strong or being a pansy. If you are not being mean like the rest of your peers something must be wrong.
Labels can be good and bad. I remember when the label Christian was a good thing. In Acts 11 we are first introduced to the term Christian. In Adam Clarkes' commentary on this passage he hints that maybe the term was given by God. He basis this thought on the word chreematisai which is Greek for "were called" and that this term has the finer meaning of being appointed by a devine direction. I can see his point.
If this is the case then we have a lot of explaining to do. What do we "Christians" do to hold up the moniker? I must look at myself more than anything. Yet I hear what the "big time" TV Christians are doing in the name of God and they call themselves Christians. And maybe not just them but everyone else for that matter is giving the title Christian a bad rap.
There is another school of thought. When the disciples were first called Christian it was probably in reproach (Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary). The term may have not been very kind. If this is the case, most of us are living up to the title!
Furthering my disgust, is what politicians are doing with the term. They call themselves Christian but do nothing to show it. They tell me that if I am a Christian then I should vote the way they vote and I should support the candidate that they support and if I don't then I must not be one of them. What am I to do?
I've given up the name! I am no longer a Christian!
I can hear the gasps!
I am a follower of Christ. I believe that He and He alone is the way the truth and the life. I believe that He alone grants us the ability to approach the Throne of God. I believe that as I follow Him, I will have a better understanding of my Creator. I believe that He gives me the title Friend! And I believe that if I truly follow Him, then I will become Christ-like, but I will let Him make that decision because every time I think I am getting closer, I see how much further I've yet to go.
There's a proverb that goes like this:
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverbs 14:12 NIV
posted by Father of 3 | 8:45 PM
3 Comments:
I'm not gasping! I rather agree with your assessment.
If you were a "Cop" and one of your fellow officers disgraced the badge, would you stop calling yourself a Cop and give up the badge?
I wouldn't. I would work harder at being a cop. And I would wear the badge with even more pride.
You should always be proud to be a CHRISTIAN!
you havnt written in a while you know people still come here right?
just making sure. not saying i have nothing better to do i could always just call you. but its nice to hear some wisdom every now and then
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