Category: Don’t Be Like the World

Posted on

The Physics of Sin

It’s been a long time since I’ve done it, but years ago I got scuba certified. As you might expect, there’s a lot more to it than just grabbing an air tank and jumping into the water. I found learning about some of the physics behind it to be very interesting. I know not everybody is a math person, so I’ll try to keep it pretty general.

Scuba diving is all about pressure. Before we get in the water we’re only dealing with the weight of air on us. If you’re standing on the shore at sea level, the weight of all the air above you equates to a little less than 15 pounds per square inch (psi). That’s not much, considering how many miles up that column of air extends. This level, 14.69 psi, is known as one atmosphere.

The water is a completely different story. Since water weighs so much more than air, a column of only about 34 feet of water exerts the same amount of pressure as one atmosphere. Standing at the ocean’s edge you have one atmosphere pressing down on you. Scuba diving 34 feet deep, you have two atmospheres pressing down on you (one air and one water).

Moving from sea level to 34 feet under the surface causes the pressure that’s exerted on your body to increase by 100%, to nearly 30 psi. It’s definitely noticeable. If you move another 34 feet deeper, you have a total of three atmospheres (almost 45 psi) pressing on your body. The same amount of air pressure in your tank offers differing amounts of breathable air at various depths because there needs to be enough “oomph” in your air tank(s) to overcome the water pressure to make it through the regulator, hoses, and into your lungs. That excess “oomph” is what determines how much air is available for you to breathe. The deeper you go, the less time you can stay there.

Here’s the kicker: as you’re descending deeper, you notice the biggest pressure difference early on, and even though you’re still descending, the rate of increase gets less noticeable the deeper you go. Ever dive deep into a pool or a lake? You probably had to plug your nose and equalize the pressure in your head/ears before you went 10-12 feet deep because it felt like there was a huge increase in pressure. Mathematically, moving from one to two atmospheres is a 100% increase. Moving from two to three atmospheres is an increase of only 50%. Moving from three to four atmospheres is an increase of only 33%. The further you go, going even further feels like less of a big deal.

Sin is like that too. When you first encounter something you know is wrong, it’s easy to identify as being wrong. Once you start accepting it, rationalizing it away, or getting comfortable with it, it becomes more difficult to think of as being “wrong.” You start to accept additional things you formerly would’ve rejected outright. Once you make the jump from “one atmosphere” to two, it becomes easier to move to the third, and from there to the fourth.

What’s the bottom line? If you know it’s wrong, don’t do it. Don’t compromise. The more you compromise on living a God-honoring life, the more you’ll be willing to make subsequent concessions. Stay in that area near the surface, where you’re still sensitive to small changes in pressure and where going only 10 feet down becomes painful.

Our world is changing. Things that were once considered unspeakable are now commonplace and even endorsed. God’s view of sin has not changed, so neither should ours. We’re all sinners, and we all need the salvation Christ offers. Everyone needs to hear about it (God loves each and every person He’s created, so we shouldn’t play favorites), and you may be the only way someone encounters the truth. The truth will be more evident in your life if you’re living the way God wants.

Lord Jesus, thank you for creating this wonderful world and even giving us examples from science! Help us all be sensitive about the things in our lives that we should not allow to be there. Also help us to avoid a “holier than thou” attitude and be willing to genuinely reach the “tax collectors and sinners” of the Bible. Praise You for what You’ve done for us! In Your name, Amen.

Posted on

Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Solid Footing

After I passed the SERE Indoctrination course in Texas, the Air Force moved my fellow course graduates and I up to Fairchild Air Force Base in eastern Washington state. Fairchild AFB is the site of the Air Force’s main survival school.

In some ways the environment was more relaxed. The screening course was about two weeks long, but the upcoming course was six months long. With such a lengthy course that starts only twice a year, if you missed the start of one class, you could be waiting around for awhile before the next class began.

While waiting we had various tasks and activities to perform. We’d work out together in the mornings five days a week, with every Monday being a PT test that the rest of the Air Force only did once or twice a year. On Monday afternoons we’d do a 7-mile timed ruck march. The other afternoons during the week usually involved some sort of training in a section of the base where we could practice using an ax to fell trees or split wood, perform other firecraft training, or practice building shelters. Another afternoon was usually spent cleaning a particular building, repairing equipment, or prepping and resupplying stuff we’d used previously. Every now and then we’d spend a few overnights out in the forest somewhere, learning to use the skills and tricks we’d picked up.

One of the cool things we regularly got to do was grab our loaded rucks and pile into a bus and we’d get driven to state parks or national forests or some kind of wilderness that was open to public use, and we’d go on 10+ mile hikes to help prepare our bodies for the upcoming training. The only real rules given to us were that we had to carry a decent weight in our packs, we had to bring water, and we had to wear the boots we’d use in training, but aside from the boots we could wear whatever we wanted. It was a relaxed version of intense training and we’d get to apply more things we’d learned along the way.

About this time of year, April or May, we went for one of these hikes up in the mountains somewhere. There was still a lot of snow on the ground, but it was warm enough that the snowpack was melting.

Someone tell that goober that his survival vest doesn’t go with that outfit

We came to one spot where some small evergreens were sticking out of the snow. As we walked through the patch of trees, a few guys started sinking waist-deep into the snow. It was a total surprise to me. I had no clue what was going on…it almost seemed like some kind of snow shark was swimming around underneath us or something, picking us off one by one.

It turns out that during the winter, as the snow fell, the evergreens acted like umbrellas. The snow piled up around the outside of the trees, but near the trunk a snowless void remained. Weeks or months later when some unsuspecting Air Force students came walking along and got too close to the trees, the snow shifted underneath them and started to swallow them up. Though the trees looked small, their full height was hidden from view. In this picture, Carl walked right between two trees growing close together, and after sinking into the snow he had to get a hand up. The surface he had been walking on, despite its appearance, was not as solid as what he had imagined it to be.

Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. -Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

We live in strange times. Up is down, black is white, right is wrong, and wrong is right. The snow that humanity stands on is shifting around us, leaving us in a state of confusion with unsteady footing. As the world goes off in search of today’s version of a moral compass (and gets ready to change it tomorrow), build your life not on the shifting footing of the world’s ideology, but on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, which does not change.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”-Matthew 7:24-27

Posted on

Wait a Minute…How Epic Would it be if…

While training to be an Air Force survival instructor, the first hurdle to pass was a screening course that occurred immediately after Basic Training. Recruits fresh out of Basic spent a few weeks getting their bodies strengthened through rigorous physical training, leading up to the official two-week course.

Week 1 of the screening course involved performing a lot of tasks in preparation for week 2. The second week took place out in the field. Training on base can help familiarize you with a lot of things, but if you want to be a survival instructor, sooner or later you need to get away from civilization. Week 2 of the screening course took place in the scrub country on a military installation north of San Antonio, TX. Here we got our first real dose of land navigation, drinking scummy water, and eating things we normally wouldn’t consider eating.

During most of our time in the field we worked in pairs or in groups. There were lots of tasks and activities to perform, along with new things to learn. Then at the end, we spent our final night going solo. On that night our instructors gave us a list of items we had to accomplish and dropped us off in locations where we were isolated from one another.

The list of items seemed fairly long, but none of them were terribly complicated. I went through the course in March, so my biggest challenge was completing as much of the list as I could before dark. I think the first thing I did after getting dropped off was find a spot to set up my shelter. I set down my ruck, then looked through the list of tasks to see which ones would be best to perform during daylight.

One of the things I needed to do was make a ground-to-air signal out of the materials available. Since I needed to wander around a bit in order to scavenge items to use in building the signal, I wanted to make sure I got that done while it was still light out. I started collecting logs and brush to arrange in the required pattern.

I can’t remember if I was using an axe or a military-issue bolt knife, but I started hacking away at some brush. Almost immediately I heard a sound I’d never heard in person before but knew right away what it was. While thrashing in the scrub, I had disturbed a rattlesnake, and it let me know in no uncertain terms that I needed to back up.

Of course I was startled and jumped back. It didn’t take long, though, for me to have this thought…how epic would it be if I were eating a rattlesnake when the instructors showed up to pick me up in the morning? That would become, like, the stuff of legends back at the survival schoolhouse on base!

I eyed the snake as it started slinking away, trying to decide whether I should try to kill it or not. Here I was, about to pass the course. I was hungry, but wouldn’t have a problem making it until the next day without anything else to eat. I’d never eaten a snake before, so I wasn’t sure how to prepare it. Since it was venomous, there were plenty of ways for things to go wrong. All you did was cut off the head a little below the widest part, right? I think so…but, how much am I willing to gamble on that?

Was it a good idea? By almost any measure, no. Would it be awesome? Absolutely and unequivocally yes!

Should I make the decision with my feelings or with my head?

I watched the snake as it slowly left the area, still flirting with the idea. In the end, the risk didn’t seem worth it. I didn’t want to make some kind of stupid mistake that ended up with me being injected with (or accidentally eating) venom when I was on the cusp of passing the course…a course I had no desire to repeat. When it was all said and done I gave the snake a wide berth and decided to pick a new spot to build my shelter for the night…a spot that wasn’t so near the brush the snake had been hanging out in.

The penalty? This story is less cool than it could have been. (I passed the course, though.)

It’s funny how we make choices in life. I’d compare this experience to other times when we’re trying to decide whether or not to pursue something we know isn’t a good idea…pick whatever sin is especially hard for you to walk away from. Even when you know it’s something that could bite you in the end, there’s that draw that pulls on you. Despite the fact that you know it’s a bad idea, you may still spend some time thinking it over despite the fact that you know you should walk away.

This is something you probably know, but I’m going to say it anyway. The closer you stay to and the longer you flirt with doing something you know you shouldn’t, the more likely you are to do it. When you find yourself in that position, take action to just shut that door. Walk away from the computer if you’re about to start looking at stuff you’re not supposed to look at. Put your phone down and walk away from it if you’re about to text something you shouldn’t. If you get yourself into trouble when you’re alone, go somewhere where you’re around people. If you get yourself in trouble when you’re around people, go somewhere where you’re by yourself.

Sin isn’t always going to be as obvious as a rattlesnake, but God gave you a conscience for a reason. If you consistently ignore it, it’ll eventually leave you alone.

Posted on

Quick Hit: What Does the World Think of the Church?

Christ commanded us to go out and share the Gospel with people. That’s one of the jobs of the people that make up the Church.

Lots of folks, wanting to get more people into church on Sunday mornings, naturally ask the question “how can we get the world to like us more?” Sadly, there’s only one answer: be more like the world.

Sorry, that’s not why the Church is here. We’re here to point the way to everlasting life and fellowship with our creator. If the world likes the Church, we probably need to take a closer look at what’s actually happening. Conforming to the world waters down the message and pulls us off that mission. When we spend time worrying about what the world thinks of the Church, we’re likely not focusing on getting out there and being the Church.

Christ wasn’t afraid to offend people. He came to bring truth, which is what we’re to do, too. We point the way and let others make up their own mind. Many will ignore us, or even laugh at us. That’s their right, but it’s not an excuse for us to stop spreading the message.

Be the Church.

Posted on

Playing For An Audience of One

Part of our college graduation requirement was to deliver a “Senior Seminar” in our chosen field of study. This was essentially an in-depth presentation on a faculty-approved topic related to our studies. Each department’s students sacrificed a few Saturday mornings during our final semester and took turns presenting our topic to the department faculty and an audience of our peers.

Although it’s not always the case, science presentations can be boring. All of us biology majors had to sit through some dry (but meticulously researched and well-sourced) student lectures. Most of the bio presentations were either in the pre-med concentration or the ecological field of study.

You may remember from a previous post that I had fallen behind in my major early on in my academic pursuits. As part of an attempt to catch up, I did a summer project where I went out into a wooded area near my house and repeatedly set out 25 small live traps to perform a wildlife survey. I set out little red flags to mark the spots to place the traps, and six or eight times I baited them with various seeds and left them out overnight. It was fairly involved and I thought I’d be able to write up a report to obtain a few college credits for this study. Well, that didn’t work out, but since I had already done it, I figured I’d do my senior seminar on it.

Overall it went well. After hearing so many abstract presentations that were difficult to grasp meaningfully, the biology professors seemed to enjoy hearing about an experiment that one of the students actually conducted in the field. In fact this presentation was the only one that drew questions from all of the faculty members. One of my non-biology housemates showed up to support me, too, which meant a lot. I ended up getting a very good grade, and I probably allowed it to inflate my ego a little more than I should have.

Weeks later one of the biology professors approached me and said “we have a campus-wide visit day coming up for prospective students. As part of the programming, each department has a current student give a presentation for visiting students interested in those respective majors. Would you be interested in delivering your senior seminar on behalf of the biology department that day?”

It was an honor, for sure. It would be good resume fodder, and it looked like I could get a bit more mileage out of that summer project, so I agreed. I gathered my notes, looked at the feedback I got from my seminar and made adjustments, and rehearsed as the event drew near.

The day eventually came, and I waited in the lecture hall prepared to do my presentation for the numerous prospective biology students that would surely come to tour the campus that day. I had no idea how many visiting students would show, but I was ready. I had even started getting cocky by this point. “They asked me to do my presentation, probably because it stood out so much. I don’t even have to do a great job; it’s not like this is a class of my peers…these will only be high school kids.”

Well, that guy still had some growing up to do, and his lesson was about to begin.

The clock kept ticking and it was nearly time to start, but nobody showed up. Finally, one student and one of their parents came into the lecture hall. There was nobody else.

Whichever professor represented the biology department that day spoke a little about the department, introduced me, then let me take it away. It felt weird, playing to an “audience of one” (and their mom or dad) who sat in the back row of a theater-style lecture hall. It felt like sort of a waste, but I went through the entire presentation again.

This time at the end, when I asked for questions, there were absolutely none. The visiting student just wanted to get out of there and stop hearing about the mice I’d caught.

It was a lot different from the first time around. I have no idea if that student chose to attend my alma mater, or if maybe they decided right then and there to look for a different school and/or major because they were afraid they’d have to go out in the woods and try to catch mice or something.

Well, the experience helped bring me back to earth. It helped me better understand the concept of playing for an audience of one. As Christians, we need to be careful about whose approval we seek. It’s also important to examine our motivations. Are we working for Christ’s glory, or our own? Yes we all have talents, but are we using them in ways that would make God happy? I don’t know who I’m talking to right now, but someone reading this needs to think about how they’d feel if they’re busy using their talents or resources when Jesus taps them on the shoulder and says “I can see what’s in your heart, you know.”

We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our heart. 1 Thessalonians 2:4b

Lord Jesus, there are things you’ve done in my life that make me uniquely prepared to serve you in certain capacities. Although some of my experience comes from things I’ve worked hard to earn, help me to recognize that You ultimately control what direction my life takes. Please show me the places in my own mind and attitude where I need to make adjustments in order to ensure I’m working to glorify You and not me. Amen

Posted on

Hope is a Powerful Agent

Since I’ve been spending a lot more time in my house over the past six months, it’s been interesting to go digging through closets or boxes and see what’s in there. A few days ago I listened to some old CDs.

One of the albums I popped into the CD player is Steven Curtis Chapman’s Heaven in the Real World. We’re talking 1994…hard to believe I’ve had it for 25 years or so!

As the music started, the beat and lyrics all came rushing back. I can’t even tell you how long it’s been since I listened to those songs. The crazy part, though, was when I started listening to the words.

Before the first song started, a voice track came on, talking about all the craziness happening in the world at the time. Violence erupting somewhere, drug seizures, natural disasters. It led into the first song, talking about a child looking through eyes of fear and uncertainty. I thought “Huh, not much has changed.”

The next song came on, and it was a similar story:

People say this world’s a jungle and sometimes I must admit
I’d be scared to death if I did not know who was king of it
But the truth is God created this whole world with His own hand
So everything is under His command

I enjoyed humming along with an old familiar song, and looked forward to the next track on the album. It got even crazier:

Once upon a time not so long ago in a land not so far away
Right and wrong were not quite so hard to know
And black and white were not so gray
Times have changed and now it seems
Conscience has gone the way of the dinosaur
But I believe it’s still alive and well today
In the hearts of those who will stand up and say (chorus)

Then the second verse went on to describe the conditions of the day:

There’s a banner waving saying tolerance will set you free, it’s the latest thing
While the consequences it leaves behind are like a ball and chain
But there’s a voice in everyone called conscience
That’s been around since God created man
And as we learn to listen to its whispering
We’ll find the greater freedom when we stand up and sing

Right is right and wrong is wrong just like it has been along
We cannot sit by and see conscience become history
So come on, get up and dance
Dance this dance with me

I’ll tell you what…this world is, and always has been, in a state of decline. This is nothing new. It’s sad to see, but to the Christians reading this, it’s important to understand that standing around wringing your hands is not going to make things any better. The hope that you have in Christ is one of the best ways of getting people to notice that there’s something different about you. Think of hope as the confident expectation of what God has promised. When you hope in Christ, you are trusting in God’s faithfulness.

It’s important for you to broadcast your hope. To do that though, you need to make sure your soul is getting fed. Reading the Bible on a frequent basis is one of the best ways to sustain your hope. The Bible reminds us of God’s faithfulness and the promises He’s made to His people. I’ll tell you a startling statistic I heard recently: during the time of Covid, one-third fewer Christians are reading their Bibles.

Talk about throwing a cinderblock to a drowning man.

The Church (not the building, but the people) is still God’s plan for spreading the Gospel and restoring the lost relationship between God and people. There are probably more people out there that are not going to Heaven than the number that are. In a time when things are, once again, crazy, those people need to see your hope. Please, let them see it.

DareGreatlyNow is a weekly blog that encourages you to live up to your full Christian potential and be amazed at what God can do through you if you choose to allow Him the opportunity. Subscribe and/or share it with someone you think would benefit!

Posted on

All You Have To Do is Be There

(Since it’s Christmas season right now, it’s Christmas movie time. For the first time my wife and I recently showed our kids a classic from our childhood, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which helped give me the idea for this post.)

Both of my parents grew up in New York City, and when I was a kid we’d go into the city to visit family. Every now and then we’d branch off from family and take a trip into Manhattan to go do some sight-seeing.

On one particular trip into NYC, it wasn’t long after I first saw the second Home Alone movie. For those of you that haven’t seen it, it’s about a 10-year-old kid that somehow ends up flying to New York City by himself around Christmastime. While he enjoys being a tourist at first, it doesn’t take long before things start unraveling for him and he really wants to get back to his family.

As we walked around NYC, the Plaza Hotel, the famous hotel featured in the movie, was on our list of things to check out. Central Park is nearby, along with Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, and a bunch of other famous sites.

We walked into the hotel and it was really cool, because it looked almost exactly like scenes out of the movie. (It’s funny how movies make places look bigger and brighter, though.)

  • My amateur photography
  • Kevin in Home Alone 2
Just off the Plaza Hotel’s main lobby

I thought it was pretty cool being there at a place where they filmed a movie I enjoyed. Everyone else in the lobby was doing normal hotel stuff. There was a long line of people waiting to check in, and as near as I could tell, none of them were even thinking about the movie. I decided I’d snap a picture to remember this by. I walked over to a spot where I could capture the check-in desk, raised my camera, and took a picture.

The Check-in Desk at the Plaza Hotel in the early 1990s

I didn’t really anticipate it as a kid, but now I understand why the hotel would want to make its guests feel like their privacy was protected. Right after the flash went off, a very large, well-dressed man strode across the lobby toward us, walked around us, and stood directly behind me. He didn’t say a word, nor did he act in a rude manner, but it was perfectly obvious my behavior was not welcome. We took the hint and moved along.

Although it’s sort of a strange tie-in, Christians can be a lot like that guy from the lobby. People who know they’re not living right are uncomfortable when they’re around people that are. If you’re a Christian it’s not necessarily your job to make people feel uncomfortable, but sometimes God uses you as a reminder to others in a way that pricks their conscience.

We’re coming up on the time of year where we spend time with loved ones that we may not see that often. That’s easy for some, not so easy for others. If you have a difficult time at Christmas because you’re around people you love, but don’t always get along with due to religious/lifestyle differences, just keep loving on them. Like the guy in the hotel, you don’t need to be rude or belligerent, you just need to be there. Don’t for a second feel bad for living the way God wants you to. God could be chipping away at their heart, and using you as a way of making them uncomfortable with the way they live when they know they’re not living the right way.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. –John 13:35

Posted on

It’s All About Perspective

(Programming note: In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, I’m switching up this week’s posting schedule. Next week will be back to Thursday.)

When my kids were very young, like a lot of kids, they were pretty self-centered. This wasn’t a surprise; when any child’s world is still very small, they naturally think of themselves as the center of the universe.

My wife and I found a way to start breaking them out of that thought process. Every night at bedtime, we started doing what we call “Thankful Hearts.” We’d each say a few things for which we were thankful. My wife and I started out with some examples. We might say something like “I’m thankful we had enough food to eat today, I’m thankful you didn’t get hurt worse when you fell down today, and I’m thankful our house is keeping us warm and dry while it’s rainy and cold outside.”

It took a little adjustment for them, but over time our kids began focusing less on their “I wants” and more on their “I already haves.” This roundabout way of counting their blessings helped our kids understand that it’s a special thing to have enough when others don’t. That type of security allows people to turn their focus outward; instead of our kids’ prayer requests sounding like a Christmas list for items they wanted for themselves, they soon began bringing their requests to God on behalf of the needs of others.

In a world where every commercial or advertisement you watch, read, or hear tries to convince you that what you already have is inadequate, it’s easy to become dissatisfied. That’s the goal of advertising. It’s also easy to get caught in the whole “keep up with the Joneses” mentality. Don’t forget though, especially as we head into Christmas season, to be thankful for the areas of your life where you already have “enough,” especially if you’re assured of your salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Thankfulness of that eternal assurance allows you to be confident and enables you to turn your focus outward and share the good news with those who, in that sense, aren’t as blessed as you are.

I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. Psalm 9:1-2

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on

Can Your Teacher Teach?

Photo courtesy of YouTube

A few summers in my teens/early 20s I drove a ski boat at a Christian conference center on the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The vast majority of the people I drove came for tubing rides, but every now and then there were people that wanted to waterski.

If they were experienced waterskiers, it wasn’t a problem. They knew what to do, I knew how to drive for it, and it usually worked out pretty well.

On the other hand, it was much more difficult when beginners gave it a shot. We had a limited selection of ski sizes, so if the skier was small/light, they usually struggled to get into a good starting position. Just wrestling with the skis while trying to stay in the right “crouched” position was usually enough to get both the skier and the driver frustrated. Add to this the fact that their teacher…me…had never been successful at waterskiing, and it’s no surprise that I can probably count on one hand the number of people that were able to ski for the first time under my tutelage over the course of two or three summers. Sometimes it’s true what they say: those that can’t do…teach.

If you want to learn something from someone, you’d expect your instructor…regardless of what they’re instructing…to be proficient at it, wouldn’t you? I grew up near that conference center and since I was a kid I’d hung out by the river and heard lots of different boat drivers describe to beginners how to get up and out of the water on waterskis. The problem was that I didn’t have any experience doing it myself, so it was very difficult for me to successfully translate that theoretical knowledge into something usable for someone else.

In the Christian life we’re supposed to devote ourselves to passionately pursuing Christ. In the twelfth chapter of the book of Mark, someone asked Jesus what the greatest commandment is. He responded in verse 30 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and all your strength.” Pursue Christ with everything you’ve got, but while you’re doing it, make sure that the sources you’re learning from, getting excited by, gaining encouragement from, and using to be renewed are credible sources. Some of the enemy’s greatest weapons employ half-truths or sound like they’re religious, but are in fact more misleading and damaging than flat-out lies.

The voices you’re listening to…are they walking the walk, or only talking the talk?

Posted on

You’re Affected…But How?

You can tell a lot about where someone’s from by the words they use and the accent they have. Do they call it “soda,” “pop,” “sodapop,” or “coke?” Is it a “lollipop” or a “sucker?” “Do they wear “tennis shoes” or “sneakers?” Is the word “y’all” a part of their vernacular?

As a kid I lived in Pennsylvania. I’m a little biased, but I don’t think I had any kind of accent as a kid. It’s a funny thing though; we had some people move to our neighborhood that came from North Dakota. There were also some grandparents nearby that had long summer visits from a family that lived in Minnesota. As I played and spent time with the kids of these Midwestern families, a funny thing happened…I started saying words the way they did.

Accent map courtesy of the Washington Post

That time spent together influenced the way I spoke. This is a pretty harmless instance of what I’m getting at, but it’s a great example of how you are influenced by your surroundings. You become like the people and attitudes that are around you.

Take a moment to stop and think about the people and attitudes that are a part of your environment. This is where you are headed. You are becoming more like them. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on what kind of people make up your environment.

It’s a two-way street, though. The new neighbors from North Dakota were immersed in a new region, surrounded by people that did not have the same accent as them. For that family’s kids especially, the accent faded with time. You’re not the only one being influenced; you also possess influence over those that are part of your life. Do you exude positivity and an uplifting outlook, or do you drag people down with your presence?

It might be time to re-examine the things and people you have in your life. What kind of friends do you have? What kind of things are you doing together? Other relationships, like family or work, give you fewer options with regard to your ability to choose whether or not to interact with them. In those cases, focus instead on your ability to make a positive difference in your shared environment.

In either case, whether you can choose your associations or not, you have a choice as far as what kind of contribution you will make to your environment.


“whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” Philippians 4:8