Top Models

‘successful’ lifestyle.
* They have big houses, fast cars, and lots of money.
* They have the admiration of millions.
* They’re being asked to guest on Letterman and Leno.
And there are a lot of people who would love to be just like them.

There are millions of people who literally make these folks their “role models”.

Now that has creeped out more than one of these famous people.
Years ago, there was a big debate about Charles Barkley’s comment in a Nike commercial, when he said: "I’m not a role model."
He was telling people he didn’t sign up to be a role model.
He wanted to play basketball.
He liked the money. He liked the adoration of his fans.
He just didn’t like the pressure of being held to a higher standard.

And he’s not the only one’s whose felt that way:

· In Glamour Magazine a famous singer named Rihanna said: I don’t want to be a role model.
· Miley Cyrus wants parents to quit putting so much pressure on her to be a role model.
· Snooki (a 20 something “Jersey Shores actress”) who acknowledges she does stupid stuff… and says she doesn’t want her young fans acting like her: “I don’t want to be a role model.”
· A (now dead) rapper Tupac commented on a song he wrote: “I say I don’t want to be a role model in the song, because if I let somebody put the role model label on me, that limits me”.

I don’t want to be a role model.
I don’t want to be a role model.
Over and over again, they all repeat it like a mantra: “I don’t want to be a role model!

They say that BECAUSE they know they do things that are wrong, and sometimes they even glory in the depravity they take part in.
But when people call them on it (hey, you’re supposed to be a role model) they rebel.
Because they don’t want the pressure. The responsibility.

ILLUS: A sports columnist Ron Barr wrote sports figures who complain of being held to these higher standards,: “They can’t want the adulation, big salaries, media attention and big buck endorsements and not expect a price to be paid.”

His point was this: whether these folks want to be role models or not… they are.
And WE need to know that.
Because whether we like these people - what they do, what they think, what they say, or who they are… they are role models for somebody.

And God knows that too.
That’s why He’s called you out of the world to be different… to be role models to a world that is often drawn to follow undesirable people on a path to destruction.
Jesus said:
“You are the salt of the earth…”Matthew 5:13
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.” Mt 5:14
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 KJV

God calls you to be role models for this world!

So, how do we become these Role Models?
What do we need to do to justify God’s faith in us to become examples for others?

Well, we do that by following Paul’s advice
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1
We need to find someone who can be a role model for us… and copy them.
We need to deliberately find someone who imitates Christ and then IMITATE THEM.

One of my favorite Bible verses is 2 Corinthians 3:18 that says:
“… we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to