Welcome Back

Do you remember the TV series Welcome Back.  For the sake of those too young to recall it was about a young man who returns to his old school as a teacher.  Gabe Kotter did not fit the shape of a teacher because he was influenced by his recollection of his life as a student.

He consequently had to build a new form of teacher that was built on his life as a student.  This new teacher was based on an authority status of inspiring his students not with a cane but with an idea.  In a somewhat ironic way we must lead others with a concept rather than a claim to ultimate authority, the model by which the old school teachers worked.

Ironic in that the society in which we live today is drawn along by concepts rather than claim.  The minute that we put something into a “Claim of Authority” we must be expected to furnish it with a proof: something which is to be accepted on face value.  We do not operate that way.  We like to accept things based on a very subjective way.

The concept of “ultimate authority” has been all but replaced by “show me why and I will think about it first”.  Consider the flow of traffic on our highways.  The threat of death or dismemberment is given as a authority rather than the “speed limit is whatever it is”

If we drive at the posted speed limit we become a danger to ourselves and others who are driving to the limit plus 10 or 15 kilometres per hour.  When we get out of town we simply drop the foot and rely on the “traffic telegraph” to keep us out of trouble.  You know what I mean by the traffic telegraph don’t you.  It is that “friend” in the other lane who drives toward you with lights blinking that forces you to check your speed when there is a requirement to be vigilant be that a radar road check or some accident we are coming upon.

So then we have become a society of “outlaws” and the only check on us being the threat of punishment.  Here then is the link with issues of our faith.  If we are to influence others for the Lord we need to inspire them to apply our beliefs in their life.  It is a follow me this way rather “thus says the Lord”.  We are the proof of our beliefs by the way we live, how we work, and how we control our tongue.  We must become a human billboard if you will; in fact we are human billboards for good or evil.

Jesus said “by their light will you know them”.  It is a remarkable parallel that if we are to be influencers for the light we must first become human billboards to bring Jesus light to shine in the lives of those He is putting in our lives to be saved by our influence.