{"id":37479,"date":"2024-04-14T12:44:52","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T19:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=37479"},"modified":"2024-04-14T16:33:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T23:33:16","slug":"be-imitators-of-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/be-imitators-of-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Imitators of Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our readings this week were two-fold by Carl Trueman. The first book I read through was\u00a0The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution.<\/i> [1] This was an exhaustive look at the sexual revolution, going back not merely to the 1960s but over two hundred years ago to great thinkers such as Rousseau, Marx, Darwin, and especially Freud. These men introduced the concept and the importance of the “self.” The second of the two books for the week was Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution<\/i>.\u00a0<\/em>[2] This was a much smaller, compact version of the first book published approximately two years after the initial book came out. It was much easier to read and comprehend.<\/p>\n

Application<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I thought about this week’s readings and the daily identity crises our young people face, I was brought to life in my classroom with my students. I have been teaching young people for nearly thirty years, and a lot has changed in student behavior and attitudes over those years. It has been particularly noticeable since the onset of the internet and social media age. I’ve noticed several things worth mentioning here.<\/p>\n

First of all, their identities are online. They do not know how to interact with one another in socially acceptable ways unless they have a parent who has taken the time to teach them at home what is right and wrong. For instance, generally speaking, they have no manners. They are not kind to one another. They believe that because you can say anything you want to someone online, like on Facebook, you can say anything you want to them in person without repercussions. You can be as ugly and unkind as you want to each other because you can be on social media sites. It’s where they are finding and forming their identity.<\/p>\n

Second, it is where they are forming their values. Girls as young as eight years old in second grade insist on their parents buying them expensive make-up for example. They get it and wear it to school, a new trend based on videos they’ve seen. They’ve worn basketball shorts and T-shirts in the past, but not anymore. They even sometimes come dressed in heels for an average day of school. If other girls are not wearing expensive make-up or fancier clothes, something is wrong with them and their values.<\/p>\n

Third, they are “sexualized” at a much younger age. For instance, my fifth grader said aloud, during recess a week or so ago, something sexual to some of her friends. I overheard it and intervened. The child was embarrassed that I had heard her say it, and the others laughed that a teacher had heard it. We had a discussion about appropriate language. I don’t know that any of the girls ever understood. That they knew what that meant as ten-year-olds is very disturbing.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

In summary, we are living in difficult times. They are difficult for our young people to navigate, for sure, and they are difficult for us as Christian leaders as well. I pray daily that I can say, as Paul did, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)<\/p>\n

____________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

[1] Carl R. Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution<\/i> (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2020).<\/p>\n

[2] Carl R. Trueman, Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution<\/i> (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2022).<\/p>\n

McDowell, Sean, and Carl Trueman. “The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: A Conversation with Carl Trueman.” Sean McDowell. June 2, 2021. Link<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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