We all follow something, whether we admit it or not. It could be the latest horoscope or media update on our favorite actor(-tress) or singer. Could even be a few friends.
Jesus knew this about us, too. Throughout the four Gospels, we read of Him saying these very words to people. “Follow me.”
“Well, so what? Why does it matter what I follow after?” you might be thinking.
Last night, I read in The Holy Spirit and You by Dennis and Rita Bennett, “Christianity is not founded on the teachings of Jesus, but on the Person of Jesus. It isn’t what He taught, but Who He is, that matters most.”
This is so true, and it helps us to understand a bit more of why He said to follow Him. Let me show you.
If you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible, who would you say Jesus was? What sort of character did He have? He was certainly loving, caring, generous, compassionate, kind, selfless. And we could probably go on.
Based on this then, if we chose to “follow” Him, we too would adopt these qualities, wouldn't we? Absolutely.
The same is true if we follow something like the media, for example. It will change us one way or another. Watching all those perfect people going to clubs and drinking until they don’t know which end is up anymore sends the message that in order to be like them -to follow them- we must do the same. Doing as they do is one step closer to accomplishing our goal... It’s no wonder so many people drink.
But, the question remains, is the media a wise thing to follow?
I’m sure I don’t need to remind everyone how many people die from drinking. And I’m not talking about just drinking and driving (check out the stats on drinking and driving -http://www.salinecountysheriff.com/Drunk.html). 140,000 people, this link says. And this is just for America.
As for drinking alone, let me share some more statistics...
An article at Telegraph says 15,000 people die from alcohol related diseases each year. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2563443/Fifteen-thousand-people-die-from-alcohol-related-diseases-every-year.html
Another link said that 76,000 people died a year in India from alcohol abuse-http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_die_each_year_from_drinking_alcohol_in_India_only. It also says, “I would guess that the figures are underreported a bit because many families refuse autopsies for their obviously drunken relatives. These figures also don't reflect criminal acts like murders and suicides, many of which are directly alcohol related.”
And that’s only two locations! Now, this blog isn’t about drinking, so let me get back on track.
Media. If we follow it, it teaches us drinking is cool. Yet, drinking is nothing short of deadly. Media leads to drinking which leads to death. To shorten it, media leads to death.
Is the media really something we want to be following? We’ll be willingly following our ultimate demise. Think long and hard about it...
There is lots of truth then to what Jesus said. “Follow me” wasn’t meant to form a possy or become the largest group of people in the world. I give people more credit than that.
No, Jesus meant it for life. He meant it to save us by giving us a worthy Leader to follow.
Who or what do you follow?
~L.Pierce
Monday, August 10, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Oh, how very true. Yet, it is so easy to forget, especially when the “media” is hitting us from every angle.
ReplyDeleteI was actually just watching a program today that was discussing how much the groups we interact with will affect us. It is more of a serious issue than we realize.
Thanks for the post.
I believe it.
ReplyDeleteEven though the media wasn't the intent of the post, researching for this topic made me realize how true it is. And you're right, the media hits us from every angle. They're relentless. Then again, so is our Enemy.
Hmm... Coincidence?
~L.P. :)
Stats are interesting. It does point a light at how many people live life at the extremes. Everyone who does finds life that way very difficult to maintain.
ReplyDelete