The Counsel of Peers

The counsel of peers

I have heard many ministers tell the story from John 8 of the woman caught in adultery. They quote Christ, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." They follow with verse 9, "At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there."

Most speakers make the obvious point of the parable that we should not judge others but we should tend to our own sin. However, there is a phrase in verse 9, that I have never heard discussed. "The older ones first." The older ones were the first to realize they were not without sin. The youngest ones were the slowest to leave. Perhaps they were looking to their peers rather than their elders for guidance. In "Emotional Purity," the author quotes author Christopher Schlect as asking why, as a society, we have this idea of "separation of generational influence." '

Grandville Stanley Hall taught that each generation is, or should be, superior to the previous one, and therefore needs to break free from those which precede it.' Schlect writes. "G. Stanley Hall was a pupil of Horace Mann, an evolutionist. Years later we can see how that has played out in all spectrums of life. Most people believe they can gain more insight from their peers than from their old-fashioned parents or grandparents. Because most of us believe this idea that Hall presented, we have looked to our peers, and not our parents, for spiritual growth and emotional guidance." 1

The Old Testament tells of many young kings who failed because they were looking to their peers for advice rather than seeking guidance from their father's advisors. If we only get guidance from our peers, we do not have a trustworthy measuring stick. We are most likely all in the same boat of needing someone to lead us, to guide us."Listen to your father, who gave you life, and don't despise your mother's experience when she is old" (Proverbs 23:22, TLB).

Marilyn W. Heavilin is a speaker, author and summer Counselor-inResidence at America's KESWICK
\1Emotional Purity: an Affair of the Heart by Heather Arnel Paul