Are Your Role Models Still Living?

Most of us have role models, people we greatly respect and even would like to emulate. After watching the Olympics, athletes like Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles no doubt gained many thousands of new, ardent admirers. We might have someone at work, a very accomplished veteran, whose abilities and traits we’d like to see in our own lives.

Students often have favorite teachers, people who made learning not just fun, but truly an adventure. “I want to be like her (or him),” is a common reaction when we’re in the presence of an inspirational educator. As a writer, I’ve had a number of authors who in one way or another served as role models as I forged my own journalistic and literary career.

But have you ever considered that perhaps the very best role models are…no longer living? I started pondering this recently after hearing someone on the radio state emphatically, “All of my role models are dead.”

Think about it: How many times have we read sad reports about some supposedly upstanding citizen – an entertainer, athlete, politician, business leader, even a pastor or ministry leader – a revered role model for many, who was exposed for scandalous moral or ethical behavior? What happens when those we place on a pedestal tragically fall from grace, so to speak? We become disheartened, disillusioned, even devastated. How could those we held in such high esteem stoop so low?

So perhaps it’s a good idea for our role models to be from a different place and time. A local pastor for years has led a weekly discussion group called the Dead Theologians Society, in which men and women review the writings of Christian leaders from centuries past. Part of the reasoning is that eternal truth never has an expiration date. But there’s also no danger that sage spiritual minds of the past – like Augustine, Charles H. Spurgeon, St. Francis of Assisi, Andrew Murray, Martin Luther, A.W. Tozer, Teresa of Avila, Oswald Chambers, C.S. Lewis, Corrie ten Boom, John Bunyan, and many others – will become the subject of disgraceful headlines in tomorrow’s newspaper, on the Internet, or the nightly news.

This is one reason Hebrews 11 is such an important chapter in the Bible. Here we find men and women of faith – starting with Abel and continuing with other Old Testament patriarchs like Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Samson, David, Samuel and the prophets. As Hebrews 11:13 states, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.”

Later the chapter talks about individuals “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised…” (verse 33). But it also points out that others, “were tortured and refused to be released…. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison…stoned; they were sawed in two, hey were put to death by the sword…” (Hebrews 11:35-37). Could we face that and remain true to what we believe?

The chapter concludes by stating, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised” (Hebrews 11:39). In other words, they still were looking for the promised Messiah, clinging to the hope of redemption and life everlasting. And they didn’t have a local Christian bookstore, or a handy Internet website to go to for encouragement. All they had was faith, which the first verse of Hebrews 11 declares to be, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

One of the hardest things in life is finishing well, whether it’s pursuing a college education, competing in an athletic event, forging a career, building a healthy marriage and family, or walking with God. It’s too easy, too tempting, to quit or take a detour along the way.

Many of our personal role models have started well. But how will they finish? Will we become disappointed to see them decide it’s not worth finishing their marathon? Will we discover their talk was a lot larger than their walk?

So maybe the guy was right – it’s best to have role models that are dead. Especially godly ones. We can study how they lived and try to discover how they succeeded in finishing well. Much like the apostle Paul, who wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

When Role Models Roll Wrong

The phrase may have become passé, but for quite a while we used to hear people proclaim, “That’s how I roll.” In other words, “That’s how I am,” or “That’s the way I do things.” But sometimes how you “roll” can cause problems – especially if you’re a role model.

We saw contrasting examples of this recently, leading up to and immediately after the Super Bowl. After his team defeated the San Francisco 49ers to earn the right to play in the Super Bowl, Richard Sherman, a talented defensive back for the Seattle Seahawks, went on a post-game rant that prompted extensive debate over the following days.

The only problem with putting people
on pedestals is gravity: They have an
annoying habit of falling off.

Sherman used no profanity, but his contentious comments reminded some viewers of the antics of professional wrestlers. Frankly, my first thought was the NFL had merged with the WWE. Apparently his competitive juices were still flowing after the final seconds had ticked away. The problem was, prior to his game-clinching defensive play and subsequent in-your-face commentary, many watching the game outside of Seattle hardly knew him. And as they say, first impressions are lasting.

Then there were the measured, sportsmanlike reactions of Denver Broncos’ quarterback Peyton Manning after his team was soundly thrashed by Sherman’s Seahawks in the Super Bowl, 43-8. Although clearly disappointed, his demeanor reflected the image Manning has cultivated as one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks.

So is Manning a better role model than Sherman? Who knows? Whether it’s right or not, we build pedestals for people – entertainers, athletes, politicians, even spiritual leaders – who seem larger than life. But is their public persona real or fabricated? Genuine – or the product of crafty marketing and packaging? Do we really know “how they roll”?

Even the best, most appealing role models stumble. No one’s perfect, right? Whether it’s someone whose name rates front-page or evening news coverage, or some lesser known person we admire at work, church or in our community, if we probe deeply enough, we’ll find feet of clay. So what are we to do when our role models decide to roll wrongly?

In the Bible, Jesus instructed His followers, “Judge not, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1-2). This might seem hard to apply, especially when considering persons like the reigning queen and king of chaos, Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, but it’s true – we really don’t know them, or what makes them do the crazy things they do.

We also need to realize, whether we asked for the assignment or not, we’re probably someone else’s role model. It might be a colleague or coworker, child or grandchild, or someone you interact with at church or a volunteer organization where you serve. People are watching, and unwittingly we can become examples for good or ill.

Finally, we need to recognize there is only one role model truly worthy of following, only one that will never disappoint or disillusion us with bad behavior: Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Earlier in the same book we’re told to be “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

And the apostle Paul, whose writings were known for profound theology, summed it up when he stated: “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

There’s nothing wrong with appreciating and admiring someone’s skills and talents, whatever they might be. But there’s a danger of turning role models into idols – little gods. And God clearly declared, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). At those times when we don’t like how our role models “roll,” we need to maintain our focus on the One that never fails.