Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Bobbyisms or Boberbs 1 of 6

Over the last two years, I’ve heard my mentor/boss say some things that are both catchy and helpful. While I don’t think these things are universally true all the time (I don’t think Bobby thinks that either), there is a lot of wisdom in them. I think of them as modern day proverbs... wise sayings that describe the way things normally work (not without exception) but true the majority of the time.

#1 What we celebrate, we invite.
Bobby thinks this came from a book by Ravi Zacharias. The context was a HS graduation ceremony where a pregnant girl was awarded a grand applause. The point being that the glorification of a thing makes it attractive and therefore not just permissible but encouraged. While it does take a lot of courage and determination to continue in school and move forward in spite of poor decisions, should we give more applause for a student doing something that she should have done anyway? What about all the other students who made great decisions? Should they not have received at least as much celebration for making good decisions the whole time? I'm not saying we should condemn her or ostracize her or something stupid like that. Everyone needs love, support, and compassion, whether we make good decisions or poor ones. Nevertheless, we should be sure that we’re celebrating what is truly great!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's a mommyism. I feel like I have to make a point here, having been in a similar situation myself. Perhaps the celebration was about the pregnant teen succeeding when dropping out of school might have been easier. As Christians, should we condemn a teen mother to a life of failure or should we be supportive and encourage her to be successful? How many of us complain about welfare mothers? How many of us are willing to go the extra mile to show her and her child or children the love of Christ? Jesus came to save the world, not condemn it. Without the love, prayers and financial support of some wonderful Christian friends and some family members, our family would look much different today. I was a statistic with 3 children by age 18 before I even knew I was a statistic. With eternal gratitude to Christians in action. - Mom

Cody Pope said...

Kudos to my mom who kept, loved, raised, and taught her kids (including me) in spite of tremendous and overwhelming adversity!

I edited the post so hopefully there's more clarity. I agree with all of your questions and statements and also very grateful to those who invested in me without me even knowing it!