As I began to tell last Friday, my dad was always my hero. I was so proud to call him my dad, and with each of his childhood stories, I admired him more and more…

He was definitely a prankster. In fact, he took the goal of being a prankster to a new level; and even though I admired him, sometimes I will admit that I am also a bit ashamed of his antics…
Take this day, for example…

My dad, a young adult now, was standing on a small bridge at the local park. He had a brick sitting on the rail, and he stood there staring at that brick. It wasn’t that the brick was in any way interesting… He was simply using this as a way to attract attention.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before someone approached him. “What do you have there?” the man asked amicably. “What are you looking at? Is there something special about that brick?”

“Look over the edge,” my dad said, point at the muddy water below.

Puzzled, the young man complied … just as my dad dropped the brick into the water and ducked out of sight.

By this time, the poor, curious onlooker had his head well over the rail as he tried to see whatever it was that interested my dad. His face received the full force of the back-splash of mud as the brick hit the water below…

We’ll just say he wasn’t very happy with my dad…

My dad had anticipated such a response, however, and running as fast as he could, he was already several meters away.

Yup. That was the kind of pranks my dad did, and no, I’m not condoning such actions. As a child, however, I would hear such stories, and it made me so proud to be the son of someone who could do such horrendous things and get away with it! I wanted to be just like him! Fortunately for me, I was too shy to do such things. It was my biggest goal, however, to do something as heinous just to earn that big, mischievous smile from my dad.

Though the lessons from this story are many, I will highlight only two…

First and foremost, We need to be good examples. No matter who we are — father, grandfather, teacher, pastor, student, aunt, stepmom, etc. — there are people who look up to us! It doesn’t matter what we do, whether our actions are admirable or not, there are those who will want to imitate us. We may think there is no one watching; however, there usually always are eyes on us, and we must remember the seriousness of Jesus’ words: “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6 NIV).

Secondly, As I think back on my dad’s life, I realize that he lived for his own gratification, never giving a second thought to anyone who might have been hurt by his actions. He rationalized that the person wasn’t really harmed, and therefore, it was all okay; and since it was all done in fun, the recipient of his pranks should just laugh along. I can honestly tell you that my dad didn’t come to know the Lord until the last year before he died; but this doesn’t change the fact that his actions typify so much of humanity, Christian and non-Christian alike. Take a moment to think about it: How many of your daily actions are motivated by thoughts of other people? 50%? If that’s the case, than you are probably doing better than most. 75%? You are in a rare category indeed, for it isn’t easy to always be thinking about the needs of others. There was, in fact, only One who lived 100% of His life putting the needs of others above His own: Jesus Christ. It doesn’t seem to matter how hard we, as humans, try, selfish interest always seems to creep in. Yet the One who did live 100% of His life for others calls us to follow His example… “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (1 Peter 2:21 NIV)

No, my “crazy hero” of a dad didn’t necessarily leave me a good example of how one lives their lives for others rather than for themselves; rather, he left me a lasting example of what it means to live for your own gratification. Even though as a child I wanted to be like him, I have learned as an adult that I need to follow a different example, One whose selflessness led Him to a cruel cross…

What example will you follow today?

In His love,
Rob Chaffart
Director, Answer2prayer Ministries

(To access the entire “My Crazy Hero” devotional series, please click here.)