Dumb Obedience

The wife coined a term about a year ago. She was asked by a friend, “How come you and Kyle seem so mature though your parents weren’t Christians?” Obviously humbled by the question, the wife simply stated, “It was really just dumb obedience.”

[A quick note on our parents. We pray regularly for their salvation; could you pray very quickly that they’d come to a saving faith? We love them and the Lord has blessed us to have such loving and generous parents.]

What the wife was getting at with her comment to our friend is this: we didn’t know any better! When we became Christians, we didn’t have any models for how to live. We didn’t have any Christian stereotypes to fulfill. We just had the Book. We read books and listened to teachers who spent a great deal of time explaining the Book, and we just did what they or the Book said.

The Lord seems to have used that. Not because I’m smarter than anyone, wiser than anyone, or taller than anyone. There was nothing in me that would have caused God to love me and save me. It was simply His grace – undeserved favor.

If you’re reading this, you probably have a model to look to. A Christian further ahead of you. We never had that, but I think you’re blessed to have it. Don’t take it for granted! For most of you, it’s your parents. Believe it or not, they’ve been right where you are. They’ve lived through the teenage years. They have wisdom you don’t understand. Go to them, ask their advice, then take it.

If you don’t have that, go find it. If you can’t find it, try dumb obedience. It’s a tough road where you learn everything through failure, but the Lord has used it mightily in our lives.