Who do you follow?

I'm like a dog, really. When I'm out with the kids and I see another mom, I check her out. Sniff around. Is she like me? Lots of kids? Baby strapped on back? School aged kids in tow during school hours? If we seem compatible I might venture a "hello". And the sniffing continues. We night start to talk about parenting. Is she like me? How does she feel about schedules? Breastfeeding? Vaccination and alternative medicine? Homeschooling? Spanking? Cloth diapers? Cosleeping? And on and on and on. And I tend to judge folks based on their opinions about these issues.

Similarly, in mom group situations (the church nursery, the park, etc), different child-rearing teachers often come up. Folks quickly identify themselves with one teacher or another (Ezzo, Sears, Lehman, etc). And again, the judging continues.

The apostle Paul dealt with this in I Corinthians, Ch. 1:10-12, "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, 'I follow Paul'; another, 'I follow Apollos'; another, 'I follow Cephas'; still another, 'I follow Christ.'

The truth is, we should all follow Christ alone. He is the best teacher. He knows our children in ways that no one else can and freely gives of His wisdom to those who ask. As much as we have good plans and intentions for our children, His plans and intentions are more glorious and awesome than we can imagine. Why do we avail ourselves of man's wisdom to the detriment of God's? Why do we allow differences in parenting to divide us, instead of allowing Christ to unite us? Many men and women have valuable things to say, but only when we learn at the foot of Christ we will be truly wise.