Learn Lessons From Secular Men

Christians think we should only model ourselves after other Christians, and never after secular men. That would be to our detriment if we were trying to learn how to be successful in the world.

“Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.”

1 Corinthians 10:11

“If you know the way broadly, you see it in all things”

Miyamoto Musashi

Most people in the Church would shriek in horror if you so much as mentioned the idea that you have men who inspire you who are not Christians. 

You are inspired by a non-religious war hero? “How dare you!”

A secular athlete inspires you to take better care of your body? “Heretic!” 

A successful man of the world provides a good model for material success? “You materialistic fiend!”

The thinking in the Church is often so dogmatic and narrow minded in many facets that it handicaps the faith socially. No one wants to be around those “weird, religious people”. Who wants to spend time around people who constantly demonize the world instead of improving it. 

I think there absolutely is something to be said about being a “peculiar people” as a result of behaving righteously, but we take it to a whole other level when we go out of our way to be peculiar.

It’s the difference between someone who studies to get a good grade and someone who studies to understand a subject. 

In going out of our way to be peculiar we have placed the peculiarity itself above the Christian disciplines and practices that cause us to be peculiar in the first place. We make peculiarity the goal instead of making righteous the goal. Our focus should be on being Christians first and foremost, and a by-product of this lifestyle just so happens to be peculiarity. 

All of this to say, it does not rob us of our peculiarity when we learn lessons from secular men, either historically or ones who still live. It is not wrong to learn from secular men, we do it all the time. It is not wrong to be inspired by secular men, because often secular men are more successful than religious men. This is a result primarily of statistics, because there are far more secular men than Christian men. It just so happens that successful people are more likely to be worldly. This does not mean we cannot still be inspired by them. 

The second reason for worldly men being more successful than Christian men is the fact that the majority of 21st century Christians lack the work ethic of our Christian forerunners in earlier centuries.

People use the Bible’s command to avoid worldliness, greed, and materialism as an excuse to justify their slothfulness. 

We should also remember that lessons come in two primary parts: Learning what to do, and learning what not to do. We can learn both kinds from men both inside and outside the church. Every man is a walking lesson, regardless of his spirituality. Just because someone does not have salvation does not mean we cannot learn from them. Why do you think we study history? Be a man by learning from all men. 

Mantra

Every moment has a lifetime of lessons.

Application

First you have to rid yourself of prejudice. You think you are better than others because you possess salvation. Wrong. You are just as much of a loser as them. What are you without salvation? Nothing? Then your worth has nothing to do with you, and everything to do with the gift of salvation that has been given to you. Rid yourself of ego; embrace humility. 

Find some role models who inspire you. You may have a hard time finding great role models in the Church.

Every Christian wants to tell you to have good role models, yet none of them want to be role models themselves. 

List out men who inspire you. Write them down as a list and then to the side of each name write out the characteristics you find inspiring. No single man can be a role model of everything. Take all the traits you find most admirable and then think about what that would look like if one man possessed them all. You are now visualizing the ideal man. Try to imitate this Ideal Man every day, and you will find that you improve. 

Every interaction with your fellow man is a learning opportunity. You will either learn how to be or you will learn how not to be. Both are equally valuable because they catalyze action. Learning is rooted in awareness and vigilance. You cannot capitalize on learning opportunities if you are not aware of their existence. Once you notice the lesson, you must apply it. Without these two foundational principles, growth will be limited. Be a man, learn always. 

Conduct yourselves like Men.