Help for Today: Do As I Say, Not As I Do.

By: Charles Steiner

Matthew 23:1-5a (ESV) “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others.”

Sometimes when I’m reading the Bible an application from a passage smacks me right in the face, even though I’ve read over that particular scripture a thousand times. Reading the above passage last week for me was one of those moments. No one likes to listen to someone preach about something they themselves do not do. We don’t want a morbidly obese personal trainer. We don’t want our children’s teachers at school to hate learning. We don’t want to learn to play golf from someone who couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with a Callaway Big Bertha. And we certainly do not want to listen to someone beat us over the head with the Bible when they themselves do not live out what they are preaching.

It’s human nature to want to follow what other people are doing. Every picture I’ve taken with a girl recently it seems like they all are posing with one hand on their hip and one hand resting to the side. Why? I don’t know, but it’s “the new thing”. Spiritually we are the same way. We want to hold people whom we admire up and put them on a pedestal. We look to them as our examples. They are our walking and talking Bible. But there is a danger with that. People are people. They can let you down. We all make mistakes. Jesus Christ is the only person who has ever lived that never made a mistake, or never did the right thing for the wrong reason.

I’m a minister, but it still bothers me to this day that one of my spiritual leaders when I was younger now claims to be an atheist. It bothers me, when I think of all the friends I’ve had who have abandoned Christianity. It not only bothers me because I care about these people’s souls. It also bothers me because no one wants to feel like they are alone. We want to know there are people out there just like us, who are striving for the same spiritual goals as we are. That’s human nature, but I challenge you to make an effort to do a little less looking to the right and the left and do a little more looking up. Look to Jesus as your example. He is the only one who will never let you down. I challenge you to spend less time looking for an example, and spend more time being the example. The honest truth is, our actions never just affect us. We are all leaders to one degree or another. Who are you leading? And where are you leading them?