I remember as a teenager hearing Charles Barkley say that in regard to his conduct. Some reporter was wondering if he regretted his language, or his gambling, or his fighting on the court in light of the fact that kids might be watching, and Chuck responded that he wasn’t a role model. He was an athlete. Being a role model is the job of moms and dads.
I’m pretty sure Nike used it as a marketing campaign after that.
He’s partly right, I think, but partly wrong. He’s right that there are those who should be more directly modeling conduct for children – that’s the kid’s parents. But here is where he was mistaken: Just because you don’t choose to be a role model doesn’t mean that you aren’t a role model. In fact, there are all sorts of things you might not have chosen to be but it doesn’t change the fact that you are.
You might not have chosen to be an American citizen. You still have to pay taxes.
You might not want to be involved in a church. You are a member of THE church regardless.
Or how about this one:
Males, you might not have any interest in being a leader. Sorry – you already are one.
In these matters, there’s really not a choice. The issue isn’t so much a choice as it is a question of identity. In the case of males, it’s not a question whether you want to be a leader or not. You are one. The real question is what kind of leader you are going to be.
Your home, your church, and your family are led by you. It’s part of God’s intrinsic makeup. You are leading right now, even if you’re not consciously doing so. What you and I both must choose is not whether to lead; it’s what direction we want to lead. If we fail to make that choice, we won’t stop being leaders. We’ll just be leading our homes and our children away from faith. Away from the church. Away from respect. Away from maturity. Away from responsibility.
We are leaders. It’s in our DNA. That doesn’t mean you have to paint your chest blue and kill animals with sharp sticks. I’m not into either one of those things either. Not every man has to lead like that, but every man has to lead somewhere.
Like it or not.
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Good post! Kind of in the same genre, I’ve been writing a couple of posts recently on the whole idea of “bullying” and the interesting part being that the people who have made millions being bullies (i.e. Perez Hilton, Kathy Griffin, etc.) are now coming out against the tactic.
Ironically, these very people have found success in actually perfecting the idea of being a bad role model, teaching people that humor is found in mocking and belittling people. This has bread a generation of kids and adults who tear into people from the safety of their computers. My biggest point being, we are all role models. Anyone with a platform is a role model, whether you want to accept the responsibility or not. Thanks for the reminder.
Kim – Thanks for the comment. It is ironic. I enjoyed clicking over and reading your thoughts on your blog.