Youth Corner: Talking the talk?

by Gillaine Sytingco

Have you ever met someone who seemed so nice, but who influenced others in a bad way? Have you ever trusted some salesperson who came knocking on your door, selling a product which seemed to be 'too good to be true'? Have you ever been deceived by demonstration which promised some guarantee? Have you ever listened to a person testifying about their religion, but afterwards witness how they live a wicked life?

In life, it is sure that we will meet a lot of different kinds of people. Some of these people may appear to be good, but are in fact 'bad'. Some of these people may seem to be bad, yet are actually good. People are just not what they seem. I guess this is why we are always told not to judge a book by is cover.

Personally, I have heard about and seen a lot of people who are not what they seem. You can find these people everywhere: from stories told by your elders and/or friends, people in your community, schools, churches and even people who come knocking on your door.  One of the most common examples are people who attempt to push or force people into a particular religion... whether it be Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, or any of the other religions in this world. However, if you look at the lives of these people, can you see their preachings reflected in it? Sometimes the answer to this question will be NO. Why is that? Because maybe these people are just in a religion, but do not have a relationship with their god or gods. They may just say spiritual sounding-words and give people the impression that they are 'Holy' but in reality, that is really not the case.

A recent and on-going example would be Catholic priests who have been convicted for molesting young boys. This act is considered a sin by the Bible, and we can be sure that the priests have preached against it... but that did not stop them from committing those acts. We can see that not all church-going people or people who discuss their religious beliefs, for example, are Christians. Not all people who pray to Kuan Yin or Buddha are Buddhists.

The world is all about appearances and masks. But is it possible to 'protect, ourselves from being 'fooled'? Maybe. The Bible, in Matthew 7:15talks about false prophets who "come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart." We can generalise this verse and make it applicable to our everyday lives by thinking of 'false prophets' as people who are not what they seem. Matthew 7:16-20 states that we can tell that a person is not what they seem by their actions. For example, we can tell if someone is just 'talking the talk' by seeing what they do and how they walk their life.

What else can we do? Perhaps we can all take a step towards making the world a better place by not just saying what is right, but also by doing what is right. Maybe, by doing this, we can bring back some virtue and honour to our community.

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