By Willa Johnson
Actions always speak louder than words. “Do what
I say, not what I do” is an admonition stated by more than one parent whose had
a child mimic him/her. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way in real life.
The Israelites were
instructed to diligently teach their children “…to love the Lord, thy God with
all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Deuteronomy 6:5 In Proverbs 22:6 we read: “Train up a child in the way he should go;
and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Perhaps that’s where recent
generations have failed. It has been said by those who keep such data that the
last two generations have not been exposed to, much less brought up in, the
church. Parents have fallen by the wayside, neglecting any spiritual training
of their children. Now, some of those offspring have become interested in
finding solace for their troubled souls. A charismatic person comes along and
draws them into the fold.
There are many large
congregations today led by charismatic leaders. Last year the news exposed us
to a church that had an extremely controversial pastor who preaches hate and
anything but the true gospel and love of Christ. Yet, his church is packed
every Sunday. Another preacher has gained infamous fame because of his hatred
of homosexuals. There is no preaching of forgiveness or the love of Christ.
Just hate. Then there’s the renowned young preacher who never attended Bible
College but has one of the largest congregations in the country. He “inherited” his position after his father
died.
What a tragedy! A
disciple is one who follows the teachings of another. The followers of those
preachers are disciples, but not Christ’s disciples. A Christian disciple is
one who follows the teachings of Christ which include, besides love and
salvation, mercy and forgiveness.
In a devotional the
question was asked, How can you tell the “real” one dollar bill? There were
three choices: a) study counterfeit money, b) study the differences between
counterfeit and real money, c) study real money. The answer was c). The same can be said about
true religion. What better place to learn about the One True God than from His
holy inspired Word, the Bible?
A relative once told
me he didn’t go to church because there were too many hypocrites there. It’s
true the church is filled with hypocrites!
No human is perfect, we are not to pattern our lives after anyone…only Christ. That’s because He’s
the only Perfect One. The rest of us are either saved sinners or unsaved
sinners. As the beautiful hymn says: “Turn
Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” If we do
that, we will have a perfect teacher to follow and can be true disciples for
Christ. He told Peter to Follow me. We can’t go wrong if we
obey that command.
Willa Johnson writes from Phoenix, Oregon. wjhat@ccountry.com