Wednesday 31 October 2012

Are you a Christian role model?

I was reading the parable of the lost coin the other day (Luke 15:8) and my thoughts wandered … what is the greatest loss one can experience in this world? Is it the loss of a worthless trinket with great emotional value to the owner; or an expensive item of jewelry or such like; or great sums of money? Is it the loss of a loved one? Or what?

I concluded that for a Christian the greatest loss is the loss of one’s Faith.

I am often saddened by the number of people who say they are losing their faith or belief in God.

Why is that I wonder. Is it because we live in a technologically advanced age and people find it difficult to relate to a super-natural omnipotent God whose love they have never actually experienced in their lives? Or is it because when times are hard people struggle to relate to a Supreme Being they can turn to for help?

The other day on TV someone said: "Now that more and more people realise that there is no God, how can people relate to such issues as death, what comes after death, and why we are here on earth in the first place?"

Note the significant verb in that sentence. "Realise".

The speaker is implying that if you still believe in an omnipotent God then there's something wrong with you. You are not enlightened and awake enough to "realise" that it is all a work of fiction invented years ago by man to suit man's own needs.

So ... is this why people are losing their Faith, even some Christians? Is it because of peer pressure not to believe?

Or is it perhaps a shortage of good Christian role models? People who set us a good example of how to be Christ-like.

I then realized that we are all role models for others; whether we are parents, teachers, preachers or whatever. We are all unwittingly setting an example for others to emulate.

The magnitude of that realization frightened me.

Being a Christian is quite a responsibility you know!

11 comments:

  1. It's an awesome responsibility!!!! Thank you for this post! Cathy

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    1. Very true Cathy.

      Thank you for visiting me and commenting.

      God bless.

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    2. "...how can people relate to such issues as death, what comes after death, and why we are here on earth in the first place?"

      I often struggle with my faith, but it is those very questions that tell me there MUST be a God. Otherwise, how did I get here? And if I have no divine purpose, what's the point of living at all?

      It saddens me that so many people have no belief these days. And that they consider themselves enlightened. "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (Prov 14:12)

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    3. You're right Sarah. It is these very issues that make us believe there IS a God. Sadly however, too many people these days are convinced that He does not exist. What is worse, they are on a mission to convince others not to believe also, and they ridicule those who believe.

      God bless you.

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  2. As a mother of nine I am a role model whether I want to be or not. Actually, God has given me a gift of joy that confounds the world- that is my witness to the mercy of God

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    1. That's right Melanie. We are all role models in everything that we do.

      God bless you and your family.

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  3. Thank you Colleen.

    I find that in the country where I live, it is fashionable to proclaim that one does not believe in God, it is also clever to ridicule those who believe.

    God bless.

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  4. Thanks for this post Vic. It reminds me of this little poem:

    You are writing a Gospel,
    A chapter each day,
    By deeds that you do,
    By words that you say.

    Men read what you write,
    Whether faithless or true;
    Say, what is the Gospel
    According to you?

    God bless, Sam

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    1. That's a wonderful meaningful poem, Sam. Thanx.

      God bless you.

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  5. I so agree, Victor...I think one saint said- preach at all time, use words only if required :-)

    I sooo disagree about 'realising' God does not exist. I came to realisation about God and his love. It's a metanoia which every person is called to have. To not realise God's love is actually a projection of disillusionment of self upon God.

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  6. Thank you Remedia.

    It was St Francis of Assisi I believe.

    It's so sad that often on TV or radio people boast that they do not believe in God, and mock those who do.

    God bless.

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