Think of the teen who "follows the crowd." When he is discovered breaking the law simply because he imitates his friends, he will not stand well before his parents --or worse, a judge. His so-called friends may approve of his behavior, but against the standard of the law, he will not measure up. There may be a teen who wants so desperately to be accepted by her peers or, at least, just keep the peace, she pretends to be on board with their talk or their activities. But when it is revealed that she is truly not one of them, when she refuses to go along with their latest plot or engage in their perpetual gossip, she will not stand well with them. She may, however, stand well with her parents or other authority figures, those that have the authority and the means to really affect her life and future.
In Acts 5:29, Peter and the apostles with him declared, "We ought to obey God rather than men." But what does that look like? Let's face it, even if you are an adult, our peer groups can have the greatest impact on our decisions. I think most of us are more likely to see a movie or buy a particular product if it has been recommended by one of our friends. They are "in your face," so to speak. We text or FaceTime; we share meals together or go to the same gym. We trust their character; we value their opinions. Hopefully, our friend group is diverse. Hopefully, we're not hanging out in an echo chamber for most of our lives. Our friends are those we get to know and respect. Therefore, we give them a greater voice than, say, a movie critic or a celebrity endorsement. I think the sidebar here is to be very careful about those you allow in your inner circle, so to speak. But back to the obedience thing. I guess the question we should be asking is: Are Jesus and I friends?
Now that might sound a bit simplistic, maybe even childish; but Jesus had friends of all shapes and sizes, members of all walks of life when He was here on earth. His being God didn't stop Him from wanting relationship then, and it doesn't stop Him now. If we believe Jesus is alive, if we believe He loves us enough that He died for us all those years ago, why shouldn't we believe He still calls us "friends?" And why shouldn't He be as "in our face" as the friend who was there when we were sick or promoted or widowed or very pregnant? Why shouldn't He be leading us in the things we watch or the things we purchase? Why shouldn't we be spending lots of time with Him, talking and learning about Him? Why shouldn't we take Him everywhere with us and acknowledge His being there? Why shouldn't standing well before Him --exalting Him and drawing the world's attention to Him --be the impetus for our decisions?
Someone once emphasized, when we lean toward one pole, we lean away from another. The mantras of the world: Follow your heart, or You do you, are the polar opposite of what obeying Jesus is all about. You can't heed the siren call of Self and not lean away from obedience to Jesus. If we are investing all we can in reaching the standards set by the world, we are making withdrawals on our crucified life, the life poured out in worship to Jesus. We are taking away from the life we should be living in order to live a life that will not last. Even the most noble standards of the world are the antithesis of those set by God; in fact, the Bible calls them "filthy rags." Paul, one of the greatest saints and apostles to ever live said that in his human nature nothing good dwelt. The result of sin. Now, as we grow in Christ, as we hide His Word in our hearts, as the Holy Spirit works in us, we become more like Him, we begin to reflect His character. We lean further away from the persons sin has made us and more toward what God intended His marvelous humanity to look like in the first place. We're not looking back at who we used to be, we're looking toward Jesus, keeping our eyes trained in the direction we want to go, leaning in, pressing toward the prize.
Let's get back to those crazy teenagers we met at the beginning of this article. The one who follows the crowd. He's leaning toward the things they want, the advice they are giving him. Isn't that what we do when we want to hear someone clearly or let them know we're listening closely? We lean in! He's leaning to hear what they're telling him. We say, "They have his ear." Which means he's leaning away from someone else. And that lonely little girl who wants to be like everyone else. She knows that's not the place to be; she knows how unstable that sort of foundation can be. When things get hot, they will drop her like a bad habit, and then where will she be? They might even leave her holding the bag when their machinations go sideways. So, she wises up and turns her back on them. Which means she has turned toward something or Someone else. She is beginning to assess when her devotion will really count for something; she is beginning to understand who will remain a true Friend. She is wanting to place her feet on ground that's not going to shift; she is wanting to stand and stand well.
We should all be seeking to stand well; but as we do, let's be sure the ground we're standing on is Rock.
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Love it. ❤️
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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