The Power of Example

Jeremiah 35:2 “Go to the Rekabite family and invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the house of the Lord and give them wine to drink.”

So many people grow up today without having a good example of what it means to be a functioning human being. The lack a father, mother, sister, brother, aunt, or uncle who has enough time in their life to show them a positive example of healthy humanity. They often have many examples of what not to do, but very few examples of it done correctly.

And this leads to the dysfunction that we see today. People come into my office and explain their problems, and so often they ask me what to do to fix it. They have never seen a healthy life. All they have seen is people and families falling apart.

Unfortunately, our media examples are no better. Families in disarray, relationships that are throw-away relationships, disrespect and degradation abounding. And then you throw in the impulsive, reactive actions driven by emotion that are glorified and celebrated. No wonder some people in certain communities act out. They are just living what they have seen.

But there are examples from history that can and should be studied and modeled. They were not perfect people, but people who moved the human experience forward from where it started. They made contributions, even as they were imperfect themselves.

Jeremiah holds up as an example a family that listened to their ancestor who had told them to “not drink wine.” There is no explanation of why he said this. There is no Scriptural prohibition against drinking wine, except in the rules about Nazarite vows and about drunkenness. But there is no indication that they had taken the Nazarite vow in the text.

So it is a complete mystery why they were asked to not drink wine, not build houses, not become stationary farmers, but live in tents. And the text makes no bones about not telling us what our Western minds want to know. It is just left a blank.

But Jeremiah lifts them up as an example of obedience. Their ancestor had said this, and they had obeyed to the present moment in time. This is the part of the story that was important: their obedience.

Jeremiah goes on to show that the people of God had not obeyed, that those living in Jerusalem had not heeded the repeated warnings about their idolatry and sin. They had not listened and obeyed. They rejected the Word of the LORD through the prophets.

The power of example can be both the positive, as in this case, or the negative. I hope my life has more positives. I want people to be able to follow me as I follow Christ. (Yes, I stole those words from Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1).

You see, this is exactly what the people of God are supposed to be doing. Israel was to be the example of the LORD’s presence to the World. The nations were to see Israel and flock to them because of their superior living. They were to be the moral example to them. They were to shine the message: “This is what humanity is supposed to be.”

But they failed. We don’t have to fail. We can live our lives in such a way that other people want to emulated us, because we are emulating Christ. Even in our failings, we can be an example of humility and repentance. Let’s be these examples.