Don't Follow the Crowd
Baseball Hall-of-Fame legend Yogi Berra has this advice about following the crowd:
Don't always follow the crowd. Nobody goes there anymore.
It's too crowded.
How I wish that were true. More often than not, people do choose to follow the crowd and as a society, we continually sink toward the lowest common denominator. Mediocrity and worse has become the standard of behavior.
When an individual chooses to live with high moral standards, preferring civility to crudeness, and performing his or her work with competence and dedication, they stand out like a beacon in the darkest night. Where is excellence? Where is respect for others and self-respect?
Instead of penning an article bemoaning the low standards of our day, I want to offer some suggestions of ways we can “raise the bar” in our own lives and those that we might influence:
1. Honestly evaluate where you are. It is time for us to confront the truth about the condition of our own life and assess where we need to make corrections.
2. Learn to value others. It is easy to become fixated on our own situation and become inwardly focused. We need to lift our eyes and see the worth and dignity of others…and also see their needs and let compassion turn our hearts outward.
3. Practice the way of love. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he writes: Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT) What more really needs to be said?
We have a mistaken notion that love is an emotion. Actually love is a choice…and love is demonstrated by action. If we could get hold of that and realize the implications of the full expression of love, we would have a kinder and gentler society.
If we want to see love like that demonstrated, all we have to do is look at God. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8 NLT) Talk about “raising the bar”…God is the ultimate standard!
What I am advocating as an antidote for a sick society is godly living that emanates from a growing relationship with Jesus. What will you do…follow the crowd or follow Jesus?
