Prefect = perfect ... pastors' kids = perfect kids ... ?
Prefect = perfect ... pastors' kids = perfect kids ... ?
When someone is given a leadership role, do we expect them to be infallible? It seems that the way our society shapes the beliefs of our young generation these days is that "we must strive for success, and you must succeed".
Yes, it's good to always encourage people to give of their best and to strive for success, but unfortunately, our society don't seem to teach people how to deal with failures, isn't it? Just read about the number of rising cases where young kids are seeking counseling or suffering depression because they felt they had not done well, or at least not up to their parents' expectation - and to a certain extent, they have "failed".
My heart always goes out to some student leaders whom I knew tried their very best yet still made mistakes (unintentionally) while executing their duties. It's very heartbreaking to hear of adults giving critical comments about how can they make such mistakes, why are they selected if there are better ones than them, etc, etc. Shouldn't we show them where they have gone wrong and help them improve, instead of being overly critical? I don't mean we should condone their mistakes but there's a place for teaching and discipline, with LOVE.
Student leaders, or most often called prefects, are not PERFECT - they are still learning and growing too - why have we become so critical that we are like what the Bible describes "seeing the speck in other people's eyes and not noticing the log that is in our own eyes"? (Matt 7:3-5)
In the same way, sometimes we are very "cruel" to our Pastors' children as well, aren't we? Just because they are pastors' kids, we expect them to be prim and proper, to behave well, or to behave in a certain way. I've known of many pastors' kids who just want to be themselves - I mean, they ought to be given the fair chance to grow like other children - so what if there's teenage rebellion, that's a phase all teenagers have to go through and learn for themselves, allowing God to use that phase to shape them too.
Why are we always so critical about how others should behave, and yet not paying attention to how or what sort of model we are setting for them? There's a Chinese saying that goes something like "If the top beam is not straight, the beam at the bottom will be slanted too" (MOV - my own version/paraphrase). If we as adults are so critical about them, how do we expect them to learn graciousness towards others? How do we expect them to grow and pick themselves up on their feet again after they have fallen? A helping hand is what they need, not a snub.
This society has enough of critics, let's raise up more gracious persons ...
When someone is given a leadership role, do we expect them to be infallible? It seems that the way our society shapes the beliefs of our young generation these days is that "we must strive for success, and you must succeed".
Yes, it's good to always encourage people to give of their best and to strive for success, but unfortunately, our society don't seem to teach people how to deal with failures, isn't it? Just read about the number of rising cases where young kids are seeking counseling or suffering depression because they felt they had not done well, or at least not up to their parents' expectation - and to a certain extent, they have "failed".
My heart always goes out to some student leaders whom I knew tried their very best yet still made mistakes (unintentionally) while executing their duties. It's very heartbreaking to hear of adults giving critical comments about how can they make such mistakes, why are they selected if there are better ones than them, etc, etc. Shouldn't we show them where they have gone wrong and help them improve, instead of being overly critical? I don't mean we should condone their mistakes but there's a place for teaching and discipline, with LOVE.
Student leaders, or most often called prefects, are not PERFECT - they are still learning and growing too - why have we become so critical that we are like what the Bible describes "seeing the speck in other people's eyes and not noticing the log that is in our own eyes"? (Matt 7:3-5)
In the same way, sometimes we are very "cruel" to our Pastors' children as well, aren't we? Just because they are pastors' kids, we expect them to be prim and proper, to behave well, or to behave in a certain way. I've known of many pastors' kids who just want to be themselves - I mean, they ought to be given the fair chance to grow like other children - so what if there's teenage rebellion, that's a phase all teenagers have to go through and learn for themselves, allowing God to use that phase to shape them too.
Why are we always so critical about how others should behave, and yet not paying attention to how or what sort of model we are setting for them? There's a Chinese saying that goes something like "If the top beam is not straight, the beam at the bottom will be slanted too" (MOV - my own version/paraphrase). If we as adults are so critical about them, how do we expect them to learn graciousness towards others? How do we expect them to grow and pick themselves up on their feet again after they have fallen? A helping hand is what they need, not a snub.
This society has enough of critics, let's raise up more gracious persons ...
Comments