Role Model

In 1993, Nike faced a crisis when teenage boys stopped buying their shoes. The response was to produce the infamous Charles Barkley commercial where he boldly declared, “I am not a role model…. Parents should be role models.” This sparked a fiery debate, with NBA star Karl Malone saying, “We don’t choose to be role models; we are chosen. Our only choice is whether to be a good role model or a bad one.” The truth is, they were both right. Every person is a role model to someone. The question of whether you’re a positive or negative role model comes into focus with a statistic like this: 68% of Christians make their decision to follow Jesus before age eighteen. As the Apostle Paul mentored young Timothy to lead the church in Ephesus, he emphasized this important truth in 1 Timothy 4:11-16: One of your primary roles in this generation is to be a role model for the next generation.