Respect

We are a culture without respect.

If you listen to people talk, they don't treat any authority figures with respect. Someone recently joked with me using the words of the Pledge of Allegiance, saying that they want it to be "one nation under ME."

Unfortunately, that is how I see our culture. Everything is about what is best for ME. So, when authority challenges our momentary pleasure, we wind up ignoring or attacking the authority.

This cultural lack of respect is killing us. We live our lives without listening to the wisdom of an older generation. When someone tells us we are wrong, we reject them immediately, and rebel against their authority.

Consider now, the stark contrast to this in the life of Jesus. In Luke 2, we read a story about Jesus being in the temple. His parents were looking for him. But, at the temple, Jesus had found his life's purpose and calling. He knew he had to be about His Father's business. Yet, when his parents confronted him, he WENT WITH THEM AND WAS OBEDIENT TO THEM.

What would our culture look like if we stopped asking WWJD and started DOING what Jesus did? What authority figure would you start listening and submitting to?