By: Dale Weckbacher
1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I
spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I
became a man, I put away childish things.
NKJV
Walking with the Lord is an ongoing process consisting of
study of the Bible, prayer, and association with other believers. In his discourse with Nicodemus, Jesus spoke
of the need for someone to be born again (John 3:3). Jesus is not speaking of being physically
born again but a spiritual birth (John 3:5-6).
Just as a newborn baby needs nurturing, those recently born
again need spiritual nurturing as well.
Sadly, however, our churches have many believers who have been believers
for some time that are still in the infant stage of their spiritual
development. That is why it is
imperative for our churches to not only have the mission of spreading the
Gospel but also helping equip believers in the church to grow and put away
childish things.
Not only is this concept important in our spiritual walk
with God, but it is important for individuals to grow in our society as
well. Unfortunately, there is much
childish behavior in our society and we all suffer for it. Here are a few examples,
1) Fear
of Halloween costumes that may offend some students. (1)
2) Fear
of a flag. (2)
3) Fear
of people with a different skin tone. (3)
College is to be a place preparing young people to be
productive adults with talents to contribute to improving our society. Instead it appears universities are stoking fears,
which will result in adults unprepared to function in the real world. It is time for our institutions of higher
learning to focus on moving students away from childish behaviors to adulthood.
2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us that the source of fear is not from
the Lord. Spiritual maturity is learning
that our God has the power to defeat and protect us from anything causing us to
fear. I therefore want to urge everyone
reading this that has fallen prey to the aforementioned fears to give their
fears to the Lord and ask The Prince of Peace to fill their hearts with peace
instead of fear.
If a Halloween costume or Confederate Flag offends you,
nobody is forcing you to look at it, just walk away. Instead of fearing someone with a different
skin tone than yourself, remember that God created every human being with
unique talents and potential. Instead of
fearing these individuals, try to learn from them and help them discover their
God given talents.
Unfortunately, in light of the recent horrific terrorist
attacks in Paris
we must address another very real fear, the fear that we may fall victim of a
horrific attack. Unfortunately, in our
world today the possibility of falling victim to terrorism is very real. However, this does not mean we must live our lives
in fear for even this fear pales to the power of God. We must not shut ourselves in the bunker of
our homes but remain diligent by,
1) Paying
attention to our surroundings – all of the victims in Paris was engaging in activities where their
guard may have been down. Whether they
were eating at a restaurant, attending a sporting event, a concert, or
shopping, they were most likely focused on enjoying themselves on a Friday
night after a hard week at work. I am
not against having a good time but as we are having a good time, we must be on
the lookout for people or things that appear out of place.
2) Carry
some form of protection – This is simple if you are in an area that allows you
to carry a gun but is more difficult if you find yourself in a gun free zone. When in a gun free zone we may need to find
creative ways of protecting ourselves such as carrying a can of pepper spray in
order to temporally blind an attacker giving us some time to escape. Of course, we can always avoid places that
are gun free zones and in light of the recent shootings and attacks in Paris , urge places that
are gun free zones to change their policies.
3) Being
aware of where the exits are and having a plan of escape if we find ourselves
attacked.
4) Have
a charged up cell phone available to call for help as man y of the hostages
were able to do attending the concert in Paris .
These are challenging times and require us to face them as
adults. We must not allow petty fears of
Halloween costumes, flags, or our differing skin tones distract us from being
diligent, looking out for those with intentions of brutally murdering us as the
terrorists did in Paris . Instead, it has never been more important for
us to band together insuring the real dangers to or freedoms and liberties are
dealt with.
1. Johnson, Kirk.
Halloween Costume Correctness on Campus: Feel Free to Be You, but Not Me.
.
2. soopermexican.
Mizzou Prof Says Black Students Are Unsafe From Just Seeing Trucks With
Confederate Flags. therightscoop.com. [Online] The Right Scoop, November
10, 2015. [Cited: November 17, 2015.] therightscoop.com/mizzou-prof-says-black-students-are-unsafe-from-just-seeing-trucks-with-confederate-flags/.
3. Shalby, Colleen.
Fear Over Racism Grips Mizzou Campus, Sparks
#PrayForMizzou and #BlackOnCampus. www.pbs.org. [Online] PBS, November
11, 2015. [Cited: November 17, 2015.] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/fear-racism-grips-mizzou-campus-sparks-prayformizzou-blackoncampus/.
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