Role Model

 

Whether you like it or not we are all role models.

There is always someone watching us and ready to copy what we do. It could be our children, grand-children, relatives, friends, colleagues or even neighbours or people we do not know. 

We really cannot help being a role model. It is not up to us.

What is up to us is whether we are a good or a bad role model.

Do we set a good example by the way we live, what we say, how we behave and how others see us?

Are we the life and soul of the party, or do we brighten up the place by just leaving it?

When we are dead and gone will people talk about who we were or what we have done? 

Consider this: Years ago, if you were a Christian people would respect you perhaps, or be polite to you; even if they did not agree with your beliefs. Today, they would most probably ridicule you behind your back and think you're a bit weird in believing in an old man with a beard sitting on a cloud trying to oversee the world.  

Being a role model carries a lot of responsibility. Have we by our example led other people to an eternity in Paradise ... or to the other place?

And here is the real test: If you were another person watching you, would you want to copy what you are doing in life and the way you live?

Are you a Christian role model?

I was reading the parable of the lost coin the other day (Luke 15:8) and my thoughts wandered … what is the greatest loss one can experience in this world? Is it the loss of a worthless trinket with great emotional value to the owner; or an expensive item of jewelry or such like; or great sums of money? Is it the loss of a loved one? Or what?

I concluded that for a Christian the greatest loss is the loss of one’s Faith.

I am often saddened by the number of people who say they are losing their faith or belief in God.

Why is that I wonder. Is it because we live in a technologically advanced age and people find it difficult to relate to a super-natural omnipotent God whose love they have never actually experienced in their lives? Or is it because when times are hard people struggle to relate to a Supreme Being they can turn to for help?

The other day on TV someone said: "Now that more and more people realise that there is no God, how can people relate to such issues as death, what comes after death, and why we are here on earth in the first place?"

Note the significant verb in that sentence. "Realise".

The speaker is implying that if you still believe in an omnipotent God then there's something wrong with you. You are not enlightened and awake enough to "realise" that it is all a work of fiction invented years ago by man to suit man's own needs.

So ... is this why people are losing their Faith, even some Christians? Is it because of peer pressure not to believe?

Or is it perhaps a shortage of good Christian role models? People who set us a good example of how to be Christ-like.

I then realized that we are all role models for others; whether we are parents, teachers, preachers or whatever. We are all unwittingly setting an example for others to emulate.

The magnitude of that realization frightened me.

Being a Christian is quite a responsibility you know!

Live Christian.

Don’t try to talk sense to a fool; he can’t appreciate it. Proverbs 23:9

As Christians how much time do we spend in vain trying to convince un-believers about the existence of God? Let everyone see you’re a Christian by the way you live.

Reality Check.

Time for a Reality Check.

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you like what you see?

Write down on a piece of paper five adjectives that describe you: honest, hard-working, loyal … what else can you think of? Be honest and write down more than five adjectives if you wish.

When you’ve finished, read each one slowly in turn. How many of these adjectives would be chosen by your friends or family to describe you?

Do you see yourself as others see you?

More important, do you see yourself as God sees you?

And … that’s what frightens me.

On Stage.

They say the whole world is a stage and we are actors on it. They also say this life is no rehearsal – this is it. One and only life. Get on with it!

Let’s consider for a moment we’re on a stage. What part does God want you to play? Are you in a leading role? Centre stage? A great Christian orator, writer, pastor, celebrity or role model?

Or have you only got a minor part? Waiting on the side-lines, behind the curtains, for your time to be in the spotlight?

Whatever role God has given us in this life to witness on His behalf and to spread His Word; we’d better be ready because this is the most important task we’re ever asked to perform in this one life which we have.

Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Matthew 4:18-20.

Are you a Christian role model?

I was reading the parable of the lost coin the other day (Luke 15:8) and my thoughts wandered … what is the greatest loss one can experience in this world? Is it the loss of a worthless trinket with great emotional value to the owner; or an expensive item of jewelry or such like; or great sums of money? Is it the loss of a loved one? Or what?

I concluded that for a Christian the greatest loss is the loss of one’s Faith.

I am often saddened by the number of people who say they are losing their faith or belief in God.
Why is that I wonder. Is it because we live in a technologically advanced age and people find it difficult to relate to a super-natural omnipotent God whose love they have never actually experienced in their lives? Or is it because when times are hard people struggle to relate to a Supreme Being they can turn to for help?

Or is it perhaps a shortage of good Christian role models? People who set us a good example of how to be Christ-like.

I then realized that we are all role models for others; whether we are parents, teachers, preachers or whatever. We are all unwittingly setting an example for others to emulate.

The magnitude of that realization frightened me.

Being a Christian is quite a responsibility you know!