Imitation Is The Highest Form Of Flattery

We all look up to someone, and strive to emulate them. We want to be exactly like them. Imitation, as humans, is in our blood. We have no idea what to do or how to do things, so we look up to other to help us figure it out; they're called role models. Role models include: parents, older siblings, pastors, teachers, mentors and the biggest group of people most often turned into role models- celebrities. Celebrities seem to be people that everyone have always looked up to and will always look up to. The biggest reason people look up to celebrities is that they seem to have everything that we, as sinful humans, desire: money, power, fame & beauty.

When I was in high school, my small group of 8 high school boys did a bible study on: money, power, fame & (for us girl crazy high school guys) girls. 4 students took one week and lead a Bible study centered around one of these topics. It was a great study. But we all walked away asking ourselves the question, do we really want all this? Throughout the series we always came back to 1 John 2:16, "For everything in the world- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does- comes not from the Father, but from the world (NIV)."

So back to celebrities as role models. Many celebrities including Charles Barkley & Taylor Momsen, among others, believe they're not and nor do they want to be role models. But really, if you are in the public eye, and you have money, power, fame &/or beauty, then chances are there is someone out there looking up to them as a role model. Also there are celebrities that aren't good role models at all. We see them abusing their money, power, fame & beauty for their own gain, heading down a path of self destruction. Tomorrow night at Crash, we'll finish 1 Samuel, looking at chapters 27-31. We'll see the fate of one celebrity and see where his money, power, fame and beauty got him. We'll look at role models discerning what the difference between a good role model and a bad role model.

To finish this post, I'd like to leave you with 2 quotes & a question; "People never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher AND better than themselves (Tyron Edwards)." & "If... you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning (Catherine Aird)." The question is this, who do you look up to? Who do you try to emulate?