Discipleship

In a 1984 commencement speech at Iona College, Mario Cuomo addressed his remarks to the parents of the graduating class. Cuomo claimed that the parents of his generation had taught their children to be go-getters. Then he asked, "Can we now say to them that if they want to be happy they must be go-givers? I wonder if we can, in good conscience, say these things to them today when we ourselves failed so often to practice what we would preach."'

The abundant life that Jesus promised exists in being go-givers, not in being go-getters. Being go-givers is what Jesus taught (Acts 20:35) and lived (Mark 10:45). Christian parents have the privilege and responsibility of teaching their children the meaning of being Christ's disciples. Parents need to remember what Jesus said of the Pharisees: "Do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach" (Matt. 23:3). —Keith Durso