Very early in my adolescence, somewhere after Pre-K and before high school, I stepped out of the house after a spring rain and discovered one of my parents’ young kittens lapping water out of a fresh puddle left after a downpour. In a moment of mischief brought on by an overactive Y chromosome, I thought that it might be fun to give the kitty a mud bath. After a few moments of play, I looked up, noticed a pair of shoes, and realized that I had the audience of my father! Without saying a word, my dad took the kitty from me and commenced to roll me about in the mud until I had a thorough saturation. Then he took a garden hose and rinsed me off. In that moment with nary a word spoken, I learned the concept of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Over the course of my young life, I had many conversations with my father, some with words and some without, that shaped my identity.
In his words admonishing the Corinthians, Paul is not looking for an office or title. He is assuming the responsibility to lead these believers to the new identity of a life in Christ as they refrain from the cult of personality and reject bad behavior. In our world today where so many are searching for identity through social media influencers, sports arenas, and political parties, it would be safe to say that we are in the midst of an identity crisis. In my own spiritual development, I can remember many lessons taught to me by many different teachers. But the lessons I remember best are those taught by the few who were willing to have the hard conversations with me that put me back on course.
Today as a father and grandfather, I often reflect on some of the tough conversations I have had with my family, not because I enjoyed those conversations but because certain things needed to be said. I feel fortunate to have had men in my life, like my father and other mentors, who cared enough about me to have the difficult conversations, to train me up in the way I should go, to correct my behavior, and also to affirm the good choices I made. While parenting or mentoring can be both messy and time consuming, bringing both joy and pain, I can think of no higher calling than investing in the lives of others. Matthew 9:36 reminds us, “When He [Jesus] saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”