|
|
Monday, May 30, 2005
When I was a freshman in high school I wasn't a disciple of Christ. I mean, I was a Christian but after the death of my father, I just drifted away from Him...and the church. So I have zero recollection of being welcomed (or even initiated) into a student ministry. Maybe that's why I really enjoy welcoming the new classes into our student ministry so much (like we did last night, so "welcome" class of '09!). Maybe it'll help them from buying the lies that I bought into when I was coming into high school.
You know...maybe subtle things, but lies I honestly believed:
Like church wasn't really all that important.
My sport was really the most valuable thing I could do with my time.
My friends were all "good" people.
Reading the Bible and praying on my own wasn't valuable since I didn't understand them, anyway.
Making grades was higher priority than my development as a person.
Evolution made logical sense.
Popularity was valuable and worth making sacrifices and taking short cuts to get.
Having a girlfriend was necessary.
You couldn't really be good enough to be in God's favor.
You really couldn't have enough money.
Pride was a good thing.
Stuff like that. But I honestly believed them in 9th grade.
And no one was helping me learn to think for myself.
I had fallen into a trap...I was decieved by the "normal" thought processes of the world.
1 Timothy 4: 1--5 reads:
"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage, and advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by the word of God and with prayer."
See, I fell away from the faith.
I was decieved. I really bought into those things.
"Church wasn't really all that important." In fact, I didn't go to church for nearly two years. Not only did I miss out on the abundant life then, think about what my spiritual life could've been with two more years of foundation built.
"My sport was really the most valuable thing I could do with my time." Again, if I'd spent half the time and energy I put into sports into my walk with God, I'd be further ahead. Also, there was no real "payoff" to the sports. I mean, they didn't really develop character or discipline...those things I would've developed with or without sports. They wound up just being a lot of memories with no real substance.
"My friends were all "good" people." Their "morality" was really just a sliding scale anyway. When we got older, they were involved in drinking and some with drugs and most were having sex...but we still considered those things "good" because we weren't as "bad" as other people we chose to compare ourselves to. Good and bad were relative terms, not absolute.
"Reading the Bible and praying on my own wasn't valuable since I didn't understand them, anyway." I had a really good Bible. I never read it. Prayer only took place when I was asking God to get me out of some pickle I was in at the time.
"Making grades was higher priority than my development as a person." I spent more time on homework and school work than I did on spiritual stuff. And I was a below average student, too. So you can imagine how little time I spent on my personal development...making my faith my own.
"Evolution made logical sense." I didn't even question it. I was a very poor thinker.
"Popularity was valuable and worth making sacrifices and taking short cuts to get." You know, I bought into "group think." If a movie was deemed cool by my friends, I went along with it. If the group didn't like the album I LOVED, well, I never spoke up that I liked it anyway, I just didn't listen to it with them around. I laughed at racial jokes that I didn't believe. I cussed. Now, I didn't go totally out there with other stuff like drugs or alchohol or sex, but I still gave in on all sorts of personal thinking and beliefs every day because I didn't want to make a stand that might cause me to be made fun of or possibly disliked.
"Having a girlfriend was necessary." It wouldn't be a reality for two more years, but impressing girls was a high-level priority...even higher than schoolwork, so you can imagine how much energy I put into that endeavor.
"You couldn't really be good enough to be in God's favor." So, I didn't try at all. God was perfect, I wasn't, and since I couldn't be perfect, why bother at all, right?
"You really couldn't have enough money." In fact, if you had it, you must be important. Suburbia really warped me in that regard in my formative years.
"Pride was a good thing." We were always told to have pride in ourselves and in our school and in our country and in our teams. Now, what they meant when they said it was really more like, "Value these things," but what they said was pride...and it was allegedly good to be prideful. I was one arrogant kid.
While I'm glad I didn't get sucked into false doctrines of demons...which...frankly...I was probably susceptible to and probably would've joined some cult or something if the right people had been talking to me, I still look back on what my early high school years COULD'VE been.
And my high school years were really pretty fun when I look back, too. Some laughs. Some wins. Some losses. Some girls. Some friends. It was all pretty generic. I didn't overachieve. I mildly underachieved. But it certainly wasn't BAD.
But it isn't what I want for the class of 09. It isn't want I want for the class of 06.
So, for today, what deceptions have you bought into and what were the negatives associated with those? How did you change your thinking? Upperclassmen, what advice would you give to those who are coming in from your experiences?
Brent 6:41 AM
|