"I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are living according to the truth" (3 John v. 4, CEB).
Some children grow up to be genuine chips off the old block and realize their parents wildest fantasies or dreams, even surpassing them. It was said of Seth that he was in Adam's image, this may have been what was meant--someone to carry on the true family heritage and legacy. We all leave a legacy, good or evil and will be remembered by more than a brief epitaph on our tombstone. To be serious, parents are proud when their children are like them on a rare basis, because then they would be clones with all the flaws they have. Do they want them to make the same mistakes? Where would we be if no one ever went out on a limb or took chances, but always played it safe, taking the road of least resistance and following the crowd?
Kids are looking for role models, even Michael Jordan ("I want to be like Mike"), instead of looking to Jesus as the Exemplar and perfect man as well as perfect God, while parents are often remiss to be the role models their position of authority as in loco Dei (Latin for "in the place of God") implies. To make matters worse, our leaders are forsaking their role models and character seems to no longer matter.
We all have feet of clay or have faults not readily apparent to the public eye. You could also say that we all have skeletons in the closet and are glad that only God knows the real us. They say there are four personas we show: one to the world; one to our friends; one to ourselves; and one that only God can see and know in reality--which is the real self and may not even be known by us, for we don't even know ourselves as well as God does. All parents, in reality, want their kids to grow up to better themselves in the rat-race and the dog-eat-dog world and to even be better off financially and to find their dreams and realize the American dream as individuals.
No parent really wants their kids to make the same mistakes they did, or to have the same personality traits, flaws included or even illnesses and defects included--they want good parenting skills too. If you are bipolar, for instance, you don't want that curse on anyone, and just because you have learned to manage it (you never overcome it, cure it, or defeat it), you wish for your kids to be normal, whatever that means, and in today's society the normative behavior standards are indeed questionable and social workers don't talk of being abnormal, but "deviant" (from the expected)--what's normal? is the new mantra.
Likewise, believers in a church body are not meant to be clones of each other, i.e., having the same spiritual gifting. Some are eyes, some voices, some hands, some even hearts for the Lord, and we all need each other, no person has all the gifts and is self-sufficient, an island or rock, that is. The song is sung, "I am a rock, I am an island" is the world's philosophy, not biblical. Also, no one person has a monopoly on the truth, has cornered the market on knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and knows it all, or can speak for Christendom or the even the church body at large, in which case they are really hijacking the faith and pontificating for Christ, as the Pope does when he speaks ex-cathedra as the Vicar of Christ.
However, Christians need to take stands for what they believe, noting that even a dead fish can go with the flow, but they can be wrong and are responsible to God, and that is why they should not be so presumptuous as to believe they can speak for Christ, we are all fallible, even the so-called infallible Pope. We are meant to work in harmony and unity, that doesn't mean uniformity and there will be disagreements (there are many so-called gray areas in which we must be tolerant and not dogmatic): "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials (nonnegotiables), liberty; in all things, charity," as Saint Augustine of Hippo said. But we ought never to become disagreeable and learn to agree to disagree; steering clear of ungodly controversy but not shying away from godly and necessary battles for the truth, fighting the war of polemics and contending for the faith.
We ought, therefore, to submit to one another and serve one another, looking out for each other, so to speak, not just taking an interest in how they're doing. The church is a family, an organism, a fellowship, a ministry and mission in one, and a flock of God, but not an organization or a crowd to hide in--you must have an opportunity to serve, function, and grow in the faith according to your gifting, whether ministry to believer or mission to unbeliever. In a body, as well in a family, we ought to celebrate diversity as a sign of strength and that God has given more opportunity to show His love for the brethren and ministry opportunity.
Note that life is about making choices and being responsible for them, no one can remain neutral, for taking no stand for Christ is one against Him. He who is not with Him is against Him. The conclusion of the matter is that we don't want our children to be like us, imitating us, but individuals who want to be like Christ, and God will decide what gifting they receive and the amount of opportunity and ministry given to be faithful in. (Remember Paul in chains preached that he wished Agrippa could be like he was, except for his chains!) Soli Deo Gloria!
Some children grow up to be genuine chips off the old block and realize their parents wildest fantasies or dreams, even surpassing them. It was said of Seth that he was in Adam's image, this may have been what was meant--someone to carry on the true family heritage and legacy. We all leave a legacy, good or evil and will be remembered by more than a brief epitaph on our tombstone. To be serious, parents are proud when their children are like them on a rare basis, because then they would be clones with all the flaws they have. Do they want them to make the same mistakes? Where would we be if no one ever went out on a limb or took chances, but always played it safe, taking the road of least resistance and following the crowd?
Kids are looking for role models, even Michael Jordan ("I want to be like Mike"), instead of looking to Jesus as the Exemplar and perfect man as well as perfect God, while parents are often remiss to be the role models their position of authority as in loco Dei (Latin for "in the place of God") implies. To make matters worse, our leaders are forsaking their role models and character seems to no longer matter.
We all have feet of clay or have faults not readily apparent to the public eye. You could also say that we all have skeletons in the closet and are glad that only God knows the real us. They say there are four personas we show: one to the world; one to our friends; one to ourselves; and one that only God can see and know in reality--which is the real self and may not even be known by us, for we don't even know ourselves as well as God does. All parents, in reality, want their kids to grow up to better themselves in the rat-race and the dog-eat-dog world and to even be better off financially and to find their dreams and realize the American dream as individuals.
No parent really wants their kids to make the same mistakes they did, or to have the same personality traits, flaws included or even illnesses and defects included--they want good parenting skills too. If you are bipolar, for instance, you don't want that curse on anyone, and just because you have learned to manage it (you never overcome it, cure it, or defeat it), you wish for your kids to be normal, whatever that means, and in today's society the normative behavior standards are indeed questionable and social workers don't talk of being abnormal, but "deviant" (from the expected)--what's normal? is the new mantra.
Likewise, believers in a church body are not meant to be clones of each other, i.e., having the same spiritual gifting. Some are eyes, some voices, some hands, some even hearts for the Lord, and we all need each other, no person has all the gifts and is self-sufficient, an island or rock, that is. The song is sung, "I am a rock, I am an island" is the world's philosophy, not biblical. Also, no one person has a monopoly on the truth, has cornered the market on knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and knows it all, or can speak for Christendom or the even the church body at large, in which case they are really hijacking the faith and pontificating for Christ, as the Pope does when he speaks ex-cathedra as the Vicar of Christ.
However, Christians need to take stands for what they believe, noting that even a dead fish can go with the flow, but they can be wrong and are responsible to God, and that is why they should not be so presumptuous as to believe they can speak for Christ, we are all fallible, even the so-called infallible Pope. We are meant to work in harmony and unity, that doesn't mean uniformity and there will be disagreements (there are many so-called gray areas in which we must be tolerant and not dogmatic): "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials (nonnegotiables), liberty; in all things, charity," as Saint Augustine of Hippo said. But we ought never to become disagreeable and learn to agree to disagree; steering clear of ungodly controversy but not shying away from godly and necessary battles for the truth, fighting the war of polemics and contending for the faith.
We ought, therefore, to submit to one another and serve one another, looking out for each other, so to speak, not just taking an interest in how they're doing. The church is a family, an organism, a fellowship, a ministry and mission in one, and a flock of God, but not an organization or a crowd to hide in--you must have an opportunity to serve, function, and grow in the faith according to your gifting, whether ministry to believer or mission to unbeliever. In a body, as well in a family, we ought to celebrate diversity as a sign of strength and that God has given more opportunity to show His love for the brethren and ministry opportunity.
Note that life is about making choices and being responsible for them, no one can remain neutral, for taking no stand for Christ is one against Him. He who is not with Him is against Him. The conclusion of the matter is that we don't want our children to be like us, imitating us, but individuals who want to be like Christ, and God will decide what gifting they receive and the amount of opportunity and ministry given to be faithful in. (Remember Paul in chains preached that he wished Agrippa could be like he was, except for his chains!) Soli Deo Gloria!