“Don’t Be Like Me” or “Things Not to Say at Graduation”

It is graduation season. For most of my adult life, this time of the year has been both busy and a blessing as I have participated in over 25 graduation ceremonies. Graduation ceremonies are times to look to the future and inspire hope in the next generation as well as times of reflection and memories. This year is even more profound as my youngest is graduating from high school.

In those many graduation ceremonies, I don’t recall anyone ever attempting to inspire hope in the graduates by stating, “Don’t be like me.” It is not to say that this has never happened nor would I say that I have never thought it before. There are countless reasons for my son and the graduates of PCA not to be like me. Each is a unique creation of God with distinctive gifts, talents, and interests. In addition, my own brokenness and failures, even if unseen by others, is reason enough to avoid being like me.

With that thought, however, I realize that they are just like me. Each one has been created in the image of God with a great capacity to love, to learn and to create. And each one carries the same brokenness that haunts me. That brokenness may have been displayed for all to see or be hidden deep in the recesses of the heart and mind, but it is there because they are like me. It is exactly that brokenness that brought Jesus Christ to the cross to redeem us through His death and resurrection. I believe this is why the Apostle Paul encouraged others to follow him as he followed Christ (I Corinthians 11:1). It is also the reason I can ask others to follow me: Jesus Christ has redeemed and transformed my brokenness so that I am free to express my unique gifts, talents, and interests for His glory and the benefit of the community in which God has placed me. Graduates, He can do the same for you. Now, that is a reason for hope!