Making sure that one has the appropriate "pedigree" is, for many people, an important means for achieving highly coveted goals.

For some, getting the pedigree requires attending the correct high school or having the appropriate extracurricular activities on one’s transcript in order to get accepted to the correct college which all serves as a springboard for getting the correct job upon graduation. For others, getting the pedigree requires associating with and achieving acceptance in highly desired social or civic clubs or winning status in certain circles, all of which are meant to open the doors to opportunity. And for some others, getting the pedigree means staying away from certain undesirable people and unacceptable groups that could threaten attaining one’s goal. In each of these situations, the operative notion is the belief that one needs an external "stamp of approval" in order to achieve something that represents "status," that one has "made it in the world" and, in short, that one "is somebody."

Well, if that notion had motivated Jesus, the last place he would have gone to enlist disciples to carry on his mission would have been to Galilee. And, the last people whom Jesus would have called to join in his enterprise would have been fishermen like Peter and Andrew (who were brothers) and James and John (Zebedee’s sons). Their occupation---although a lucrative one---hardly provided the pedigree providing the entrée into this exclusive body.  They were four "nobodys" from "nowhere."

And yet, Jesus evidently saw something in these four fishermen that convinced Jesus to walk right into their midst and to say, "Come follow me." Apparently, Jesus wasn’t terribly interested in pedigree.

What was it, then, that Jesus saw in these four guys that convinced him to call Peter, Andrew, James, and John? And, what might that mean for you and me as disciples whose task is to carry on Jesus’ mission in our world?

I believe the response is found in the desire that people have to achieve status in this world. That is, when human beings define who they are and evaluate their self-worth through the people whom they associate with or don't associate with, what they are really doing is evaluating who they are and their self-worth against the standard set by those around them. In short, such people really have no sense of self or of their self-worth and dignity as human beings because they worship upon the altar of the "cult of the crowd" and pay homage to the idols that its' high priests and priestesses hold up for all to revere.

The teenage years are particularly difficult in this regard because, as young girls and boys begin to mature and to become more independent in their thought and behavior, many turn to others for acceptance. It’s so easy for these teenagers to fall into cliques whose members all think alike. It’s also easy for them to conform their appearance and dress to what pleases others. Many teenagers trapped in this need for acceptance also choose to engage in behaviors that they know they should not engage in, those "near occasions of sin." It doesn’t matter how many times they’ve been warned not to do these things. Since "everybody’s doing it, Mom and Dad," if I don’t, I won’t be accepted and I won’t have any "friends."

The truly sad matter of the fact is that these teenagers pretend to believe that they are mature and making independent decisions. But, all the while, they experience a void deep within themselves and they know it, try as hard as they might, to escape this feeling by making themselves pleasing to others. Every morning, after carefully selecting which clothes to wear, they look into the mirror, and primp themselves up to "go take on the day." I always laugh when I hear that there isn't a uniform at the public schools. Just take a look around and try to defend that statement! But, what they’ve crafted is a false façade meant to please others. And, these teenagers feel trapped because they know that it’s all a false veneer and not the real thing.

The most difficult question teenagers ensnared in this evil should answer but won’t is: If I didn’t craft this false façade, would those people accept me for who I really am?  And the obvious answer is, "No."

We all know that it would be better if these teenagers would simply work at trying to please themselves by being themselves, valuing themselves, and being responsible to themselves as the creatures of God they are. But, just try to convince any teenager who worships upon the altar of the "cult of the crowd" that he or she is paying homage to the idols being held up by its high priests and priestesses. Just think about it: who I am and what I am worth is defined by my purple, green, or orange hair. My self-worth is found in my body piercings and tattoos that I’ve placed in heretofore unimaginable places that I wouldn’t dare show in public. Then there’s the all time big lie transcending the generations: "You’d do it if you really cared for me."

To those teenagers who are struggling against the evil which is telling them that they need to craft themselves into someone else in order to be somebody, Jesus calls you just as you are. He doesn’t care about your looks, your height, or your weight. He simply says to you: "Turn from sin…come follow me." Turn from the cult of the crowd and seek the Kingdom of God.

It’s not just teenagers who have to confront and overcome the temptation to define themselves and their self-worth by seeking a pedigree.

During the 1980s when I was working in Tulsa, the Tulsa World printed a high society column a couple of times each week written by Dana Sue Walker. The Sunday morning column was especially important because, in that column, Dana Sue reported all of the soirées and identified the celebrities and luminaries in attendance.

I used to read the column regularly not only because it provided great entertainment but also because it told me about the social circles and cliques that many of the parents sending their children to our school belonged to and others desperately wished they could belong to. It would also make for great theater when I’d mention to parents that I had read about them in the paper. Their eyes would light up, they’d straighten their spines, and they’d become all so chummy because the principal had noticed them. I guess that made them feel really important and worth something because the high priestess of the cult of the group had anointed their name by placing it her column in the Tulsa World for everyone to behold. There was only one greater form of anointing by this high priestess. That was to have a picture showing one standing beside a luminary printed in the Sunday column.

In the late-1980s, I was invited to one of those soirées, a gala to benefit the Tulsa Public Library. Saul Bellow was being honored for his contribution to American literature and I was invited to offer the blessing before the dinner and the benediction following the award ceremony. Every Tulsa celebrity and luminary I had read ever about was at the event. And so was Dana Sue Walker.

Since I didn’t know too many people and those I did were probably asking "What’s he doing here?", I remained on the dais by my seat and chatted with people as they’d stroll by, engage in trite conversation and, then, move on. From my elevated position on the dais, I was able to watch people swarming around Dana Sue. It was easy to see the hope blazing wildly in their eyes that she’d ask them who they were, write their name in her little notebook and, then, have her photographer take their picture for the newspaper. I have to confess that I even imagined a Three Stooges type of scene where the horde would start pushing and shoving, the women hitting one another over the head with their purses, and the men kicking one another in the shins…all in an effort to get interviewed by Dana Sue Walker.

After watching this for a while and chit-chatting with some people, the high priestess of the cult of the crowd turned toward me. With the throng grasping to touch just the seam of hem of her evening gown, Dana Sue came right up to me, introduced herself to me, asked me who I was, what I did, why I was there, and the like. I responded to her questions and she wrote down all of the facts. Dana Sue then instructed her photographer to get a picture of me with Saul Bellow and the event’s organizers. I could see the people literally salivating at the thought of standing there in the lights with those luminaries.

The next morning, sure enough, there was the photograph with my name and information emblazoned on the high society page of the Tulsa World. I got calls from all sorts of people congratulating me. Others asked me about the event. Some wanted to know if I would be willing to offer the opening blessing and closing benediction at other social and civic gatherings they were organizing. In their eyes, I really had made it big. I was a big mahuff. I was the big enchilada. I was...somebody.

But, social recognition isn’t what makes me or anyone else "somebody." Putting on a tuxedo or evening gown, getting all dolled up in style, engaging in trite conversations that are ultimately meaningless, and seeking recognition is nothing other than worshipping upon the altar of the cult of the crowd. People practice this religion at business gatherings, social and civic affairs, and in parish organizations, too. It doesn’t make a dime’s worth of difference if the event is organized on a grand or a small scale, people who worship upon the altar of the cult of the crowd want to be noticed in order to feel important and be somebody.

To these people, Jesus says "Turn from sin…come follow me." Turn from the cult of the crowd and seek the Kingdom of God.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s teenagers or adults, the evil is the same. It’s to value our self-worth by the opinion of others rather than to be the person into whom God has breathed his divine spirit. It’s to believe that we need to conform to others’ expectations rather than to be obedient to the law of God placed into our hearts. It’s to pretend to be somebody we aren’t and when we look at ourselves in the mirror to choose to be blind to the false veneer. It’s to blame God for creating us a certain way rather than to give thanks to God for the gift of life He has already given us. And, ultimately, it’s not to live one’s life but to live as others dictate…with the goal of being somebody in their eyes rather than in God’s eyes.

Jesus called four fishermen for the task of carrying on his mission, four "nobodys" form "nowhere" in the eyes of the world. Their pedigree was turning from sin and following Him. For us as Jesus’ disciples, that pedigree requires us to leave behind the behaviors and lifestyles that people who worship upon the altar of the cult of the crowd believe are so meaningful and to embrace instead God’s moral code. This code provides Jesus disciples the inner compass which gives them confidence to be who they truly are no matter what everybody else says they have to be. This code gives Jesus’ disciples certitude in doing what they truly need to do despite what everybody else says they need to do. And this code gives Jesus’ disciples the abiding peace and true joy that comes with being all that God has created them to be.