I remember as a kid being told that when I grew up I could be anything I wanted to be, but that I should pick good role models in life and try to mimic them. I think for most of us this concept of a ‘role model’ was first introduced to us as kids. Maybe it was an Olympian or maybe it was a war veteran or someone else.

But as we get older, the message seems to shift a bit. Instead, lots of people who are older think that we should be truly unique, true individuals. We should carve out our own destiny. We shouldn’t try to be like anyone else, we should only try to be ourselves. But the problem is to do this, to really pursue this perfect version of ourselves, we have to come to a place where we realise we aren’t perfect. So then we look for other people who are perfect in those ways. Maybe we want to be able to speak like this person, or have the body of that person, or have the power and authority of that person. So before we know it, we are right back to step one. Choosing role models to model ourselves after.

So if we’re being honest, I think most people would agree that role models are not just for kids. Everybody has role models, no matter what age they are and whether they acknowledge it or not. So it’s not a question of whether having role models is good or bad, the question is, are the role models you choose, good or bad.

So if we are trying to define was a good role model is, there are probably some characteristics we would all agree on. We want someone who will lead us towards something that we could never achieve on our own, we want someone who will speak the truth, someone who will always give good advice and not just tell us what we want to hear. Ultimately we want someone who has been very successful at the things we want to be successful at.

But imagine finding that person, only to have them say to you, I’m not just a role model. I don’t want you just to treat me that way because I’m more than that. I want you to worship me. In fact I want you to believe that I am God. That would probably take us back a bit. But if you look at the life of Jesus while he was on this earth, this is what he said. It was clear to everyone who followed him that this man was a man of substance, of strong character, of every positive attribute we could ever think of unlike the world had ever seen. He was the very definition of a positive role model.

Most people, whether they are Christian or not, would agree that Jesus was a really good man and that there’s plenty we could all learn from him. But he doesn’t allow us to just stop there. He takes us further, into a place where we are forced to make a decision. In John 12 Jesus said, Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.  Jesus is saying that whoever sees him, sees God. You might be thinking, so Jesus was saying he was God. Yes, that’s exactly what he is saying and that’s exactly what separates him from anyone, ever that we label as a role model.

When we come across statements like we have to make a decision. Are we going to believe him or not? Are we going to think that he’s telling the truth or that he is insane? With Jesus, the way we answer that question will completely determine how much we will gain from who Jesus is. If we only treat Jesus like a good role model, we are missing the entire point. It would be like treating an airplane as just a really big and funny looking car. You’d be completely missing the point about why it even exists and your limited view would end up preventing the airplane from changing how you see the world.

Seeing Jesus only as a role model is seeing him only as a fraction of who he is. Yes, we should see him as someone, and I would say the absolute best person to model our lives after, but we also need to see him as the one true God, the only one worthy of worship, worthy of complete surrender and complete, uninhibited, unrestrained adoration and devotion.

- Rich Crosby