Researchers for the World Almanac and Book of Facts asked 2,000 American eighth-grade students to name prominent people they admired and wanted to be like. Those most frequently mentioned by the teens as their heroes were celebrities such as Burt Reynolds, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, and the late John Belushi. Commenting on this, columnist Sidney J. Harris lamented the fact that every one of the 30 prominent personalities who were named was either an entertainer or an athlete. He noted that statesmen, authors, painters, musicians, architects, doctors, and astronauts failed to capture the imagination of those students. He further suggested that the heroes and heroines created by our society are people who have made it big, but not necessarily people who have done big things.
Could the same thing be happening among Christians? Does it bother us that many teenagers from good, Bible-believing churches idolize people who the apostle James might call enemies of God? (See James 4:4). More significantly, are we as parents showing by our own actions that the one person we admire and long to be like more than any other is no less than Jesus Christ Himself? Do others see us patterning our attitudes, values, and friendships by His example? If not, it shouldn’t surprise us if our children are captivated by people who have made it big, instead of those who, according to God’s standards, have done big things.
Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus! – Martin R. De Haan II
Christ is the One that we must watch
If we want lives that count for Him,
He is the perfect sinless One,
His shining light will never dim. – Branon
It’s hard to be distracted by the world when we are attracted to Christ.
- June 14, 1984, Our Daily Bread
For You 