张国昇牧师3/8/ 2015
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| 春江水暖：海德公园Querries 石矿湖 |
Hero worship is nothing new. We always look up to
someone as our life model. It is also very natural for many people that their
first hero or heroine is their father or mother because they are the first ones
that come into their lives.
If I don’t tell
you, you probably would not know that your pastor was quite ‘HIP’ once.
I remember when
I was growing up and begin to know more about the outside world I was most
impressed by those singers who voice were so captivating that seemed to reach
down to my very soul. Remember Bing Crosby’s I’m dreaming of the White
Christmas; and I am a great pretender. The Gospel music like George Beverly
Shea’s How Great thou art; and Ethel Waters’ His Eye is on the Sparrow. Then,
of course came along Elvis Priestley with his guitar. Although I was not as
crazy as some of my contemporary girls, I must admit I was quite impressed by
the voice of that handsome golden boy. As I grew older I was less impressed by
the Beetles which I only considered as pest. That is because I am getting more
and more old-fashioned as I grew older and older. I must confess I know next to
nothing about singers like Amy Grant or Whitney Houston of the Y-generation.
These singers generally impressed us with the conviction they sang those song;
we worshipped them because we thought deep down in their soul they meant what
they sang. Then, of course, the contemporary churchmen of Elvis Presley’s
generation would think that he was devil possessed because he wriggled his hip
too much; they called him ‘Elvis the Pelvis’. But in our time now he looked
very tame because everyone wriggles their pelvic when they sing. Behind the
music we look into the soul of the one who sings it—the hero that we think he
is.
Young peoples of every generation love to imitate
their heroes or heroines. Movies stars and pop singers set the trends for
fashion. Their admirers dress like them, walk like them and even talk like
them. They are called “idols” for their followers. The word ‘idol’ always
strikes the cord of fear in a preacher’s heart. An ‘idol’ is an object of
worship! Idolatry is a sin of worshipping someone or something as god. It is
easy to commit idolatry. Young peoples worship movie stars because of their
fame, their wealth and their popularity or their misguided sex appeal, the
‘stars’ become ‘idols’ to them. For the older generation, their hero may be
someone who has an image of ‘successes’: someone with money, power and
influence. The middle age folks of the X-generation spend so much time in
making money and building a career; busy doing those activities become an
obsession for them without knowing that they have, in fact, committed
‘idolatry’. There is nothing wrong with the love of music and the enjoyment of
watching certain talented movie stars performing their best for entertainment.
It is quite another thing when he or she becomes one’s ‘idol’. You really do
not want to imitate everything these ‘heroes’ do in private life! In the same
way it is necessary for young peoples to work hard to build a career and earn a
comfortable living for their families; however when these activities become
their obsessions, they become their ‘idols’.
Paul said I urge you to imitate me. (1Corinthians
4:16) He went on to say, “Keep on
imitating me, my friends. Pay attention to those who follow the right example
that we have set for you.” (Philippians 3:17 Good News Bible) The first
impression that I have in reading these passage is that Paul is a little too
arrogant. How dare anyone to say ‘keep on imitating me’! But the truth is, Paul said, “Follow my
example as I follow the example of Christ” (1Corinthians 11:1) Paul learned of
Christ: Christ’s humility, meekness and obedience to his Heavenly Father. Paul
set the right example for them to follow.
Paul said take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave
you. The life-style that a mature Christian leads ought to be a model worth
following. Paul was not arrogant; the people in Corinthian church were the one
who were truly arrogant. The people whom Paul referred to were the people who
only know how to talk but did not live accordingly. These people did not set an
example with their lives and they did not have the spiritual authority in the
church. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. (1Cor.
4:20) Christian should set an example for other by imitating Christ. To imitate Christ one must let go the
old-self. Paul admonished them the true way to imitate Christ: “So I tell you
this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the
Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their
understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that
is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity,
they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of
impurity, with the continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to know
Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance
with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former
way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its
deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put
on the new self, created to be like God
in true righteousness and holiness.” (Eph. 4:17-24) It is not talking; not
teaching theories. It is a way of life; practicing the teaching of Christ. It
is easy to indulge in the practice of the old life-style to the extent of
losing all sensitivities of decency; but we did not come to know Christ that
way! We must ‘put off’ the old self; and ‘put on’ the new self. This new self
is a ‘new creation’ in Christ; it is created to be like God in righteousness
and holiness. How should this new man conduct himself? Paul had some advices
for him. The new man must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to the
neighbor. The new man should pretend no more. We often heard people say, it is
hard to act like a Christian (作個基督徒很難); it is true it is difficult to act like a
Christian; it is easier just be a Christian and let Christ lives in you. In
your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,
and do not give the devil a foothold. (Eph. 4:27) Sure, anger is a God given
emotion and we do feel angry sometimes. But do not lose control of our emotion
and let the devil gain a foothold in your life. Once the devil is allow to gain
a foothold it will soon bust the door wide open and invite itself in your life.
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, Paul said. Every time we allow our old selves to
surface and sin against God by saying or doing something bad we grieve the Holy
Spirit. If we keep going back to our old
selves we are not imitating Christ and we are not setting a good example for
others to imitate us.
Paul said, “Even though you have ten thousand
guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became
your father through the Gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” (1Cor.
4:15-16) Paul had led them to Christ and Paul was like a father to them. Paul had set an example for them to imitate.
By God’s grace we have led someone to Christ; this new born Christian is like a
baby and needs to have a hero in his life to imitate. It is not right just lead
someone to Christ and dump him as an orphan. You job is not done by just
leading someone to Christ; do not leave the responsibility of discipleship
training to the pastor or the Sunday School teachers. The same is true in your
own family. It is not enough just to read a bed-time Bible story to you
children and take them to church services. Your children at home need a hero to
look up to and imitate. The father is both their hero and their model. In our
Christian walk we must seriously ask ourselves the question: Can we speak with
confidence, like Paul, to our children, either natural or spiritual children,
and ask them to imitate us and ask them to follow the example that we have set
for them?
The Lord’s Supper:
Ephesians 4:1-7; 11-16
