Where are all the “Good Guys”
It seems these days that it becomes more difficult to label
someone the “good guy.” The same can be
said for the fairer sex, or “good woman.”
One trip to the box office will
let you in on a little secret society seems to be adopting. It’s not always bad to be bad. Making this more confusing and detrimental is
the fact that we are just fine with the idea of tolerating bad, as long as it
stays away from our house, or keeps its distance from our lives. We no longer want to take up arms for the
sake of “good” because we are convinced that someone else will take care if it
for us. This can be the story of our
lives, particularly in the age of allowing or requesting things be done for us,
as opposed to being the “good guy” and doing it ourselves.
A.W. Tozer addresses the issue of preaching the “good”
message and convincing others that their way of thinking needs to be tweaked a
little. He defines the ideal “good guy”
in a statement taken from “Of God and Men.
Here he is talking about those involved in the ministry, or even the
minister himself. “They will make no
decisions out of fear, take no course out of a desire to please, accept no
service for financial considerations, perform no religious act out of mere
custom; nor will they allow themselves to be influenced by the love of
publicity or the desire for reputation.” A.W. Tozer, Of God and Men, 11-13.
Our churches all need to be addressing this issue of
leadership, particularly leadership by example.
Yet it is in the churches that we are seeing conflict and strife. Our church leaders are, at times, are not
worthy of the name “good guy” because they have done nothing to earn it. Early in their careers, these “good guys”
begin to notice that no one is appreciative of their effort to remain
“good.” They begin to alter their
message based on the make-up of their audience.
They will attempt to deliver a very generic, watered-down version of
Christianity in order to avoid conflict maintain a proper flow of tithing. This is no way to build a sustainable,
durable presence in a world that is in desperate need of it.
As followers of Christ, we need to take on this challenge of
being the “good guy.” We need to be ready
to adopt the Christian lifestyle, doing all things good in a bad world. This is a very tall order, but one that God’s
army should be ready and willing to carry out.
We just need to be the “good guys” so that others will want to imitate
us. Paul instructs the churches to do
this in his letters. “Imitate me, just
as I also imitate Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1(NKJV) In Hebrews, God’s Word tells us to imitate
others. “Imitate those who through faith
and patience inherit the promises.” Hebrews 6:12(NKJV) If we know God is good, and God is with us
constantly, never leaving us, we should have no problem demonstrating these “good”
attributes. We should be doing this
without even thinking about because it has become a part of who we are.
We should be finding it very easy to be the “good guy” in a
world that wants no part of what we have to offer.
"in the world, not of the world"
“in the world, not of the world”
