Author Archives: pastorjeremyhelmuth

Who needs a ROLE MODEL?

I love sports.  I used to play baseball, football and basketball.  I still jog a few miles a week.  I also love watching sports.  Someone who loves watching sports usually finds themselves tuning into ESPN at least once a day to view the highlights of what has happened over the last twenty-four hours.  A few days ago as I was watching ESPN, I experienced a wave of emotions and thoughts that all came together and I realized how deluded we are in what we consider a “role model.”  This epiphany happened when I was watching younger girls who were interviewed about their hero, Danica Patrick.  These young girls wanted to be just like her.  Something about these interviews just didn’t sit well with me because of how she presents herself.

For those of you who might not know who Danica Patrick is, she is a thirty-one year old who is an auto racing star.  I do not want to take what she has done on the race track away from her.  I love it when women are not too “girly” for sports.  My wife is extremely athletic and she is willing to bait a hook.  I have three daughters and I want them to have all the opportunities that athletics provide.  In other words, I think it is great that Danica is racing NASCAR.  But what bothers me is how she has made herself famous.  It appears that even though she is a good race car driver, she has become famous for dressing up in bikinis and presenting herself in a way that demeans women.  I have sat through many Super bowls with my friends and I just cringe inside as one of her inappropriate commercials come on (hoping that my daughters are not in the room watching).  I know that millions of people love seeing this on television.  Men are visually attracted to how Danica presents herself.  But I am not just a man, I am a dad!  I have three daughters and when I was watching the young girls being interviewed on ESPN about how they looked up to Danica and wanted to be just like her, I didn’t hear any of them say that they wanted to do commercials with ninety percent of their bodies showing.

Let’s be honest here.  Why is she famous?  Is it because of her ability as a race car driver or is it because of her exploitation of her own body?  You might say, “Both.”  But is that what our society has become?  Become famous right now.  Do whatever you need to do in order to gather fame and fortune.  This is not what I want to teach my three daughters.

Over a decade ago, when Barry Bonds was being accused of taking steroids and people were having a hard time with him breaking Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record, I told a few of my friends, “Don’t worry about Bonds, Alex Rodriquez will someday pass Bonds and might even get to 800 home runs.  And then we can say that someone who was clean [no steroid use] broke the record.”  I was wrong.  We all were deceived into thinking that this good-looking, athletic baseball player was “doing it the right way.”

For almost a decade now it appears that Rodriquez has been lying about using steroids.  This really makes me sad because when I was growing up these guys were my role models.  When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, athletes were my role models.  I wanted to be just like them.  I sincerely thought that Charles Barkley was wrong when he stated: “I am not a role model.”   He is a role model.  Just not necessarily a good one.

Alex Rodriquez stated the other day, “I want to be a role model.”  He wants to be a role model to his daughters and to the world.  The key word here is “want.”  Just because we want something doesn’t mean that we will get it.  Rodriquez has gotten everything he has ever wanted: athletic talent, fortune, fame, women, everything.  Until now.  Just because he “wants” to be a good role model does not mean that he will be one.  He has cheated for too long.  His baseball numbers mean nothing anymore.  He has lied for too long.  How can anyone trust this guy?

I have gotten to the point in my life where athletes are no longer role models to me.  I no longer look up to singers and actors as people I want to be like when I get older.  I still love watching sports, listening to great music and watching a well done movie, but I don’t aspire to be like these people anymore.  I aspire to be myself, just how God made me with my own talents and gifts.  We should all get to that point eventually in our life.  The problem arises when our children are still going through the process of believing in people they shouldn’t believe in.

Years ago, before the advent of social media and non-stop coverage of humanity, our heroes could be unpleasant, dishonest, horrible fathers and we would never know it.  We still looked up to them because the only thing we knew about them was that they could hit the ball out of the ball park or sing a ballad that would bring you to tears.

But now that I have children, I don’t want them following someone who does not have the same values that I want to teach them.  I want them to learn honesty and purity and authenticity from those who are older than them.  So, what is a parent to do?  Should I not let my daughters “like” Danica because she doesn’t hold the same values I want for them?  I want my daughters to grow up with discernment so that they can decide who is worth following on twitter.

No matter what, our children will follow someone.  That is why it is so important to instill within your daughters and sons certain values that you hold high and let them know that the true role models in life are all around them in flesh and blood.  They are real.  They are your teachers to stretch your knowledge to new heights.  They are your coaches who give you the courage to accomplish things you never thought possible.  They are an uncle or aunt who has some free time to invest into your life.  They are your pastors who help your soul connect with God.

And role models are parents.  I was watching a movie the other night with my wife and there was a line that stuck in my mind as truth.  It was a story about a daughter and her dad who was mentally ill.  She said that children want to believe in their parents.  And even when they know that they shouldn’t, they still want to believe.  Parents, this is the power you hold over your child.  He or she wants to believe in you.  Live your life in such a way that you are worth emulating.  Even when they go through those awkward years and act like you don’t know anything, they still believe in you.  Know the power you have as a parent and use it to shape your child.  Teach them to not rely on “fake” role models.  Help them realize that they are surrounded by the real thing.  And there is nothing better than that!

Why Should I Be Baptized?

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 I look forward to our church’s picnic every year.  It is a great time filled with hamburgers, hotdogs, swimming, kickball and most importantly, people.  It is even more important for the people at Central Church to attend events like this because we now have over a thousand people in our church and there are three different options for people to attend a weekend service.  Even though we are getting “larger,” we will always be a family.  And families have picnics.

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On July 7, we had our church picnic.  I will never forget it.  Why?  Because something happened at it that had never happened before.  Someone was baptized.  I still smile every time I think about what happened on that day.  I was chewing on a hamburger when a young lady came up to me and introduced her new boyfriend to me.  We started getting to know each other by asking each other questions and one of her questions was: “When is the next baptism?”  I told her that it would be in September after school started again.  She looked at me and asked another question: “Could I get baptized sooner than that?”

 You know how when you are talking to people and they ask you something and a flood of thoughts just enter your mind?  That is what happened to me in that moment.  It took only two or three seconds for all the thoughts to enter and then exit my mind, but here were a few of them: Why can’t she just wait until September?  She hasn’t taken any classes concerning baptism.  Does she want to get baptized in a pool somewhere privately?  I wonder if there are any hotdogs left?  We are at a picnic where hundreds of Christians are already gathered.  We are standing twenty feet from a pond.  All you have to do is believe and then you can be baptized.  Would she want to be baptized right now?

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So I looked at her and looked at the water and asked her, “What about right now?”  I honestly thought she was going to say, “I think I’ll just wait until September.”  But she shocked me by stating, “Sure!”  I told her to give me five minutes to gather everyone and then I would baptize her.  She said, “That would be awesome!”  I could see the glow in her eyes!  Over the next couple of minutes I announced to the crowd that we would be having a baptism and I then proceeded to force all of the swimming children out of the pond (not a small feat) so that we would have room for the baptism.

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With hundreds of adults and children watching us, the young lady and I proceeded into the pond.  She shared a concise testimony and I asked her two questions: (1) Have you placed your trust in Jesus Christ as the Savior of your sins so that you may have eternal life?  She said, “Yes.”  (2) Do you promise to follow Jesus Christ as your leader as you involve yourself in a local body of believers?  She said, “Yes.”  Then I dunked her down into the catfish infested waters in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son Jesus Christ, and in the name of the Holy Spirit.  And I lifted her up from the depths of the water to symbolize her new life in Jesus Christ.

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The Christians gathered there clapped and cheered.  They hugged her as she left the pond.  What a moment!  As I was walking out of the pond, a story came to my mind from the book of Acts.  It was the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40).  Philip had just led the Ethiopian to a relationship with Jesus Christ (while they were both riding on a chariot!).  And when their chariot passed some water, the Ethiopian stated, “Look, here is water.  Why shouldn’t I be baptized?”  Both Philip and the Ethiopian got off the chariot and went into the water and Philip baptized the Ethiopian.

 So many denominations over the centuries have complicated the event called baptism.  You have to take a class before you can be baptized.  You have to be a certain age before you can experience baptism.  The form of baptism should be dunking.  No, it should be pouring.  Or maybe it should be sprinkling.  If you get dunked, it must be backwards.  No, do it forwards.  Dunk me once.  No, dunk me three times.

 Why have we complicated something so simple and so beautiful?  Just a short time before the baptism of the Ethiopian, Peter preached to the crowds: “Repent and be baptized” (Acts 2:38).  Repentance is all we should require before baptism.  In other words, turn from your way and follow Jesus Christ.  And then show the world that you are a Christian by being baptized.  Baptism, in its most simple definition, is a display of your surrender to Jesus Christ and your willingness to align with God.

 This is why at Central Church, if you want us to baptize you by pouring water on you, we will gladly pour water on you in the name of the Holy Trinity.  If you want us to baptize you by dunking you under the water, we will gladly immerse you into the water.  As long as you have repented from your sins.  If you have never been baptized, please consider it as an important step in your allegiance with Jesus Christ.  You will never regret taking this stand for Jesus Christ!

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