To My Facebook Brothers and Sisters in Christ….
Is Jesus, “that great shepherd of the sheep”, insulted when you call another man “Pastor”? (Keep in mind that ‘pastor’ means ‘shepherd’, okay?) For those of you who are parents, I want you to imagine your children calling your neighbours ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’. When you ask your son and/or daughter “Why do you call Mr. And Mrs. Smith Mom and Dad?”, they reply that they asked them to. Besides, all the neighbourhood kids call them Mom and Dad. Your kids are not being bad, you realize, they just want to fit in and be accepted. They don’t know the rejection and anxiety it triggers in you. What’s the big deal?
But the problem goes deeper than just surface congeniality towards Mr. and Mrs. Smith. In time your kids are asking the neighbourhood Mom and Dad for advice and direction. Now you feel threatened. Should not your children come to you for advice? Isn’t that what children should do?
In time your kids are actually asking the neighbours permission to do this and that and whatever. You sense their loyalty has shifted from you to them. They fully adapted the Smith’s ethics and standards. They have left ‘first love’ to follow after another. Yes, you are still together but not together; you are strangers occupying the same house.
“Hey!” you try to reason with your offspring, “Remember us? The ones who gave you life and changed your smelly diapers? The ones who nourished and protected you all these years? The ones – the ONLY ones! – who would not hesitate to lay down our lives for you?”
But it’s too late. The very identity of your children has now become Mr. And Mrs. Smith and all the adoring and submissive neighbourhood kids. They are ‘first love’ and you are secondary. They will continue to come to you to meet their needs, but their loyalty has been stolen by the unscrupulous Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
You know where I’m going. This analogy needs no explanation. You will get it if you want to get it, and you won’t if you don’t.
Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ!!