So never think that anyone is incapable of falling. Never hold another person up so high in your mind – as some great, godly, superhuman hope for the common man – that you are crushed when they fall and are unable to extend grace to them. Many people have had their faith crushed when some “spiritual giant” fell. Never make anyone into a “spiritual giant” in your eyes. Do not put that burden on another person. They are human, too, and will fail at some point. Give them grace when they fail, not the blame for crushing your faith.
And do not think that you are above anyone else either. You are sure to fail at some point, be weak and in need, and to let others down occasionally, too. You will have to say sorry at times, fix something you broke, right a wrong. You will still struggle with temptation and sin from time to time. It’s part of being human.
[But as a Christian, your goal is to grow in righteousness and to sin less and less as you mature in the faith. The more you follow after Christ and seek His righteousness, the less enticing sin will be. And remember, garbage in, garbage out. If you fill your mind and heart with garbage, don’t be surprised if you end up sitting in the dump that you have made out of your life. Protect your mind and seek righteousness, not garbage!]
I think one of the reasons we put people up on pedestals is because we want someone to believe in, to have faith in, to restore our faith in humanity. So we elevate people in our minds and we think about them when we want to feel good about life or when we need something to aspire to. But when they show their humanness, we are crushed and we say, “How could they?”
Well, they “could” because they are human, too. We just didn’t allow them to be human in our minds.
And we ourselves seek to be on a pedestal (or put ourselves on one in our own mind) because we want to be great examples to others, to be in the spotlight, to inspire others, to get the glory, because we feel like others expect it of us, etc. And we fail to remember that we are human, too. That we are not perfect and will fail at some point.
And then when we do, we beat ourselves up because “How could I?”
Well, you “could” because you are not superhuman. You are human, too. Just like everyone else. And so you should not get too hard on yourself when your humanness leaks through your superhuman shell. You are just as in need of grace, mercy, forgiveness, and understanding as the next person.
We should never put anyone up on a pedestal because . . .
- it’s not fair to them (or to us),
- pedestals are shaky and unstable, and it is too exhausting and difficult to stay balanced on them,
- they are lonely places to be,
- and because we expect so much out of the person on the pedestal that we fail to extend grace and forgiveness to them when they fall (or when we fall). Instead, we blame them for ruining our faith in humanity. Maybe even in God.
But that is not their fault. It is ours, for putting them up there to begin with.
If you find that your faith was crushed when someone fell off of the pedestal that you put them on, let God search your heart. Let Him examine your ability to forgive. Let Him help you figure out why forgiveness and understanding and grace and compassion toward that fallen person is so hard for you. And ask Him to help you extend those things to others.
[And if you are feeling terrible because you fell off a pedestal and found out how human you really are (or ended up showing others too much of your humanness), remember that God has already poured out His love and grace on you before you found Him, while you were still a sinner. And that grace is still there. Just reach out and grab it in thankfulness.]
Psalm
139:23-24: “Search me, O
God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting.”
Mark
11:25: “And when you
stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your
Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Matthew 5:23-24: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”
We need to remember that only God, only Jesus, can really be our solid foundation. Not other people. We need to find our joy and hope and security and strength and fulfillment in Him alone.
We need to remember that we humans are all pilgrims on this journey through life. We all walk on the ground. None of us float through life in mid-air or sit high up on a pedestal carried by others. (Besides, you can’t lean on people who are on a pedestal. So the less people there are on pedestals, the more people there are right next to us to lean on and to help support us when times get tough.)
Be
gentle and compassionate with others when they fall and with yourself when you
fall. We will all let someone else down someday
and be wrong at some point and be weak at times. We all need help sometimes and have to lean
hard on the Lord and on others. We are
all imperfect, human people, and we all need forgiveness, grace, mercy, and
understanding. We all need to be welcomed
back with open arms when we fail, to be picked up when we fall. If God can do that for us, surely we can do
it for each other!
