Perilous Pedestals — A LifeWords Devotion

But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. (NRSV)

We do have a tendency to put some Christians on pedestals. They might be church leaders or celebrities who have embraced the faith, or public figures who profess to be Christians. We might expect more of them than they can provide.

So when they show themselves to be all-too-human, we are shocked. We ought not to be. True, we have legitimate expectations of those who claim to be teachers and leaders of the faith. But even they, like the Apostle Paul, are only human. Perhaps we are shocked precisely because some teachers and leaders convey an aura of infallibility and purity. In which case, a bit of wise vulnerability is in order.

And why should we expect a famous or public figure to be some sort of model of Christian maturity? Just because that person is a skilled actor or singer, athlete or executive, does not mean that same person is a well-rounded disciple of Jesus. Heaping too many expectations on them may set them up to fail.

Only Jesus was perfect. The rest of us are, in varying ways, with varying degrees of success, struggling with our unique and not-so-unique imperfections. By all means, let’s learn what we can from others. By all means, let’s try to live like good examples of followers of Jesus. But reserve the pedestal for Jesus himself.

Blessings

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David