But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea. Mark 9:42
Prom was this past weekend, and my son was one of the scores of tuxedoed young men with a Cinderella on his arm. After enjoying the paparazzi treatment and a dinner with food that didn’t come in a wrapper, my son and his date arrived the main event. He came home disappointed and disillusioned, not with his date, but with a number of the kids around him. He recognized many of them from various youth meetings and had heard their testimonies. Prom night, they were testifying to something completely different.
And I’m not writing this post to condemn those kids, but rather as a caution to all of us. We hear all the time that the world is watching our behavior, and they are, but young believers are watching us as well. They don’t expect us to be perfect. Far from it.
But they do expect us to be authentic.
- They expect our Saturday nights to look just like our Sunday mornings and our Tuesday afternoons.
- They expect our conversation and attitude to be consistent no matter where we are or who we’re with.
- They expect us to show them it’s worth taking a stand even if it means standing out or standing alone.
- They expect us to choose holiness over worldliness.
Whether we realize it or not, they are following us. Let’s take care where we are leading.