I’m sitting here looking at a full-page magazine ad for a watch. It stirs the soul. The man pictured wearing the watch is ruggedly handsome with three days growth of beard. He is wearing a wet suit and is grimacing as he peers into the water that is beating his face. He is strongly clinching to a rubber raft that is rushing to some crisis he will conquer. His watch is front and center and will obviously be the key to his success. Wow. I want one of those watches. No, I don’t want one. I need one. I too want to be a ruggedly handsome hero that saves the day.
It is amazing how images affect us. From the moment we are born we copy the behavior and seek to be like the people who impress us. A baby will very quickly learn to stick out his or her tongue if their caregiver sticks out their tongue. We learn to be kind, honest, helpful or vice versa depending on the actions of our role models. Any lasting value of moralistic teaching vanishes quickly if the environment does not match the words. How many times I have heard parents say in regards to their children, “But I took them to church every week.”
I never cease to be impressed by Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” There it is. Peter and especially John, because of his youth, watched Jesus and copied Jesus. He was and is the ultimate rugged hero that saves the day.
Written by Roger Bothwell on October 6, 2008
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574