I’m young enough to understand today’s modern, liberal culture, but still old enough to remember a day when men and women of godly character were elevated as role models. Better yet, a time when people of failed character were restored but not elevated.
Today, I am going to make the simple case that a core factor in America’s decline is found in great part is the lack of faithful moral role models. What I mean by faithful role model are those who, while not perfect (as none of us are) remained faithful and stead as opposed to falling into sin, finding Jesus, and then building a platform to tell their sensational story. I'm not saying we ought not allow for those redeemed in Christ to tell their story-only that that we have gotten to the point that we no longer elevate and promote God's faithful servants who remained faithful from the start. WHY? Because those stories don't sell books, increase downloads, and create profit. As a result, we (even Christians) reward today's role models for the pain and sin they put on themselves and others, including their spouse and children in making them today's role models. As a result, most of today's role models no longer reflect God's steady, faithful servants, leaving our young people with the deficit of role models to inspire them to REMAIN faithful and godly as opposed to live out their wild side and return to God later.
WHO ARE THOSE FAITHFUL SERVANTS STEVEN?
There was once a day when people like Mother Theresa, Billy Graham, Harriet Tubman-escaped Christian slave who became a conductor of the Underground Railroad. Susan B. Anthony, and Dwight L. Moody, famous preacher who preached in the coal mines were America's role models to be emulated. How about Brother Andrew, famous Bible Smuggler into communist Europe? I just read his book decades later and was inspired beyond belief by his courage, tenacity, sacrifice, and overall faithfulness to Christ and all those he supported and those who supported his efforts. One thing all these men and women share is that none of them sought to be famous-but quite the opposite. All of those mentioned above gave the glory and attention to God. In fact, they were fearful to take any of that attention for personal gain or elevation.
THE PAST MORAL MODEL
When I was a young man, if you had a major moral failure, you could be restored to faith-but you were not allowed benefit from that failure considering any future success. That way of thinking has been flipped upside down in today’s world in that Christian men and women who have moral failures are rewarded publicly for their "turn-around" as promoted on modern social media and technology platform for their immoral failings. Again, I am not saying this is all bad, only that this has become the norm. Why is that bad? Because the younger generation has little if any role models to inspire them to get faithful and REMAIN faithful. That's much harder to do than sinning in great part and returning to God. What does this deficit of steady, faithful role models say about the Christian community and what we want for the next generation?
ACCOMPLISHED PEOPLE
Listen, I admire accomplished men and women, but I don’t admire any person (Christian or not) who sacrifices their marriage, children and family for worldly or even “ministry” success. I have made my own mistakes and experienced my own failures over the years as we all have, but I have not and will not build my platform on those mistakes. To do so would be to use those I hurt and sin for personal gain.
IT'S FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!
We like to say that it’s for the glory of God-but I want to challenge that narrative in that it comes at the expense of promoting godly, consistent, and faithful ROLE MODELS. At what point does glory to God move to elevating repentant sinners above faithful servants? Sadly, this has become the norm, and we no longer have a strong bench if any bench at all, of Christian role models who didn’t have some kind of moral falling or failure. What does this say to our youth?
WHAT'S THE POINT?
The point is simply that so many, if not most American Christian big named/rock-stars and success stories are built on the backs of failed marriages, illegitimate business ventures, failed parenting, and failed moral and ethical underpinnings. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t we as Christians promote faithful men and women who got married, stayed married and were faithful in our fallen, tempting, sinful world? Shouldn’t we promote moms and dads who truly sacrificed themselves as opposed to promoting those who sacrificed their marriages and seeing their children grow up for their personal professional and ministry ambitions. Better yet, why should (or would) we as Christians elevate those who abandoned their husband, wife and children to pursue worldly success in business or ministry?
SADLY, we no longer value and promote men and women of consistent virtue. In today’s culture, that is too boring and doesn’t sell books and build platforms.
THE SOLUTION
The solution is for Christians first and culture second to get back to biblically based role models. We need only to look at those faithfully serving our Lord in the mission field. Those who serve faithfully according to God’s Word as pastors in the church for years.
A GLYPSE INTO THE FUTURE
What might the future look like should we fail to start elevating faithful Christian servants? We will sink even lower morally speaking than we are now. But I am confident that we, the church will once again get back to raising up faithful servants in time. As the Christian faith comes under greater persecution, Christians will once again get more biblical as the big ministry platforms shrink into a more proper perspective and churches shrink down to more community size levels As the "game" or "industry" of church is further persecuted I see a day when Christianity gets real-and the game of church as a networking business begins to fade.
CONCLUSION
I remember a day when true biblical role models were elevated. I remember a day when a Christian who fell into sin were forgiven but not elevated even higher as a role of influence or platform. WHY WERE SUCH FAILINGS NOT REWARDED? The answer is that past generations did not reward bad moral behavior. Past generations understood that to promote past-sinful behavior, even if repentant, was to directly or indirectly promote such behavior. Grace and restoration is good, but elevating one based on their past failures is wrong. Some will disagree with me on this. My response to those Christians is to check yourself-against the Word of God. The Bible is full of sinful people. But nowhere do I find sinful believers elevated to new heights. In the Bible, I see people like David, Paul/Saul and even Peter who sinned doing great things for the Lord. But I do NOT see the center of their platform built on that sin. What I see is a brief mentioning of that sin before putting their failures behind them.
IN CLOSING
We all make mistakes, but we ought not build our future platform on the wrong, but rather elevate others who consistently did right. That is way harder to do and the true biblical role model-MODEL we as Christians should follow. In closing, there is one simple thing we can do for our children, our grandchildren, and perhaps ourselves. That one thing is to point out true, Christian role models of the past. If you can find any modern faithful role models, point them out as well. Most are men and women of old in the past. Buy paper book copies of books such as God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew, Billy Graham's Autobiography, and Evidence Not Seen: A Woman's Miraculous Faith in The Jungles of World War II. Let these people's stories inspire you and your family and show you that God has provided us faithful servants as role models for THIS and the NEXT generation. Please feel free to submit any comments or questions below.
