Christian Living
Formula For The Making Of A Christian
© 2007
by
Stephen A. Peterson
Lois Lundy, 14, went to a high school counselor with the hope of being able to come up with a way to make friends at her new school. Two months earlier she and her family moved from Oklahoma City to the much smaller community of New Lima nearly 80 miles away.
“Mrs. Knight I’ve got lots of classes and many chores at home,” she told the counselor. “So I’d like my tasks to be as simple as possible.”
The counselor nodded. “It’s very simple.” Mrs. Knight responded. “But listen very carefully. Each of your fellow students that you desire to be your friend you must say to them that he or she is kind, pleasant and friendly. If you will do this daily, you will see a change, and in two weeks you’ll have at three maybe four of your classmate be a friend to you.”
Each day Lois, after deciding which students she wanted as a friend, would tell that person he or she is kind, pleasant and friendly. After two weeks, Lois saw no change in the number friends she had made. In fact, she had made no friends at all. Lois returned to the counselor and said, “Mrs. Knight its not working. I haven’t made a single friend. Is there something wrong with me? Do you think it because mother is African-American and my father is white? Or do you think I need to change the style of clothes I’m wearin’ to be little more provocative? Or maybe its because of my accent. I don’t talk the way they do. Or maybe its because I’m not pretty.”
The counselor was surprised. The said, “Lois! Lois! New Lima is a mixed racial community. We have about a third of our families that are biracial. Your clothes are in style. In fact, they are darling! And I must admit that you are a very pretty and attractive young lady. Your accent is no problem either. I will further admit though, it sometimes takes a little longer to win high school age students over as friends. I’m going to suggest you go back to school and continue doing as I suggest. You’ll see that it will work!”
Lois did as the counselor suggested. But at the end of six weeks nothing had changed. Lois stopped using the counselor’s magic formula for getting and attracting people to be a friend. Lois stopped using the counselor’s alleged magic formula. She told other students and her parents that Mrs. Knight’s formula of being kind, pleasant and friendly towards other did not work. She told people she met that Mrs. Knight was a fraud.
Too often people approach Christianity the way Lois Lundy did. They observed working wonders in the lives of other so they either go talk to a contented Christian who tell them of the joys of their faith or observe their happiness and joy. So they want this formula for happiness and joy as well. When they go out and do what the happy and joyful Christian does and the results are not immediate, they come to believe the path of Christian living to be restrictive, burdensome, challenging and may even result in rejection from others. As Lois did, these individuals will tell other their perceived evils, failures and inconsistencies of Christianity because the Christian walk they proceeded down did not result in immediate gratification for them and the easy life they thought it would result in. And so they leave disappointed or very angry!
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