The other day I saw Ryan Giggs walking down my street. You know who Ryan Giggs is don't you? He's the whizz kid who plays so superbly for Man Utd. The new George Best they call him, although according to my dad, who professes to know about such things, he's not really fit to be mentioned in the same breath!
Anyway, back to the story. There he was walking down the street with a mate of his called Eric Cantona, or something like that. He's French I believe. And the pair of them were carrying a ball and going to have a bit of a kick about. They didn't have to tell me who they were because they had their names on the backs of their shirts GIGGS 11; CANTONA 7. At first I thought they looked a bit young to be superstars - they were about 9 by my reckoning, but then what do I know about such things?
They played for about half an hour and then went in for their tea.
Living in a world of make-believe is not just a game for the very young. Adults play it every day.
In work, at home, at university, at leisure. Pretending to be John Harvey-Jones or Tiger Woods. Somebody, anybody. The super star can so easily become the role-model.
Strangely Christians are not exempt from this. We can unconsciously model ourselves on media personalities. Or even our favourite preacher or Glen Floyd! Just imagine walking around with a shirt on emblazoned with Swindoll or Graham or Wiersbe on the back. Cool or What?
We probably all have a touch of role model syndrome. RMS
The Bible tackles RMS head on. Put simply, it says this. If you're going to have a role-model, make it sure it's the right one. And who else could there be to model ourselves on than the Lord Jesus himself. he alone is to be the disciples role model. In Matthew 10 v25 he said, " It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. " It's placed in the context of tough times, persecution and opposition. So even on days like that, there should be a conscious desire to act, think and talk like Jesus. Wow!...That's pretty tough.
But it's the only ultimately rewarding and satisfying way to live in the 90's. To be like Jesus. Christianinty is not a matter of wearing pretend shirts and playing pretend games in a world of make-believe. It's all about Character. His character showing through us. In work, home and leisure; on good days and bad.
So what of it?
It means we should strive to be like Jesus. Every day. Every where. Even in tough days.
Away with expensive replica shirts. Let's have some reality in the grind of the 90's.