The role of models for our living

This sounds stupid, but answering profile questions on MySpace made me think. Who would you like to meet? Why? Who are your heroes?
You know, I’d quite like to meet lots of people: Calvin and Hobbes (yes they’re fictional, but if it was possible it would be so much fun) Mies Van Der Rohe (a dead but very good architect), Mel Gibson, Spartacus, Goliath, John the Baptist; I’m sure we would have a nice time together. If we met at my house I would make them a cup of tea. I guess I’d like to meet people who had something interesting about them, something to add to my life – to my thinking – a blessing/ positive addition of some kind. So are they my heroes?

I listed my heroes as Jesus, Rosemary Sutcliffe, Steve Cram, Gladiator, Joan of Arc, William Carey, Steve Biko, Ghandhi, Le Corbusier, Diego Maradonna, Rob Baggaley, Rob Wright, Tim Gilling... these are just a few people who have inspired me in some way at some point. Some briefly; some only in small parts. Some, like Rob Baggaley, Rob Wright and Tim Gilling you probably won’t have heard of; they’re people I knew. Also, Bart Campolo and his dad Tony, for living out their no compromise gospel. Bill Wilson for speaking a beautifully offensive gospel. And living it.

Thinking about it I seem to have had very few role models thus far who really inspired me to a higher living. It feels like a void that should be filled. That itself is a reason for me to aim to be such for other young people. However, let me just mention Ben Harper for his dedication and teaching me bucket loads about administrative gifts of the Holy Spirit; Fabiano Martell and his enthusiasm for faith with passionate works and his ability to learn lessons and then install change in his life with no looking back; Mandy Toombs for annoyingly being spot on very often with razor sharp insight. Andy Rushworth for tenatiously holding huge vision and not letting go.

But most of the heroes I'd love to meet are not written about I know nothing about them and I don't know their names.

People who did great stuff and were great people but did not necessarily get famous for it. What an amazing attribute to do historical things but not do it for the acclaim of history.

And sometimes its been things, not people that have inspired me - writings, pictures, music, organisations; all founded on people, but perhaps I'm aware that all people are fallible - no one except Jesus (who never did anything wrong) is able to be an absolute hero or faultless role model.

If no one is calling us on, teaching us how to live by demonstration, no one setting a fast pace – then we will all live at a slow pace, we will get nowhere, slowly. I heard Andy Rushworth say once that all a leader needs to do is stay one step of the followers – give them somewhere to go.

If you think about it – aren’t many of your heroes fictional? From films and stories? It's sad that we have so little radical role models that we have to invent people who can do things and stand for things and have qualities no one is prepared to actually do for real in life. But I suppose that takes us back to the fact that no one can be a perfect role model but Jesus, who embodies the model of perfect living as described by the narrative of what we now call the Bible. The thing about inventing role models though, is that we, who don’t know how to be radical role models, are then the ones who have to say what qualities and actions it takes to be such a person, which must surely often lead to us having role models with less than awesome qualities?

Anyhoo, if anything, let’s just take the best we can from the models we have, but BE AWARE that these are not perfect models (if we think they are that is when we are INFATUATED right?) and let it spur us towards actively following Jesus in order to be influenced by his perfect redition of God’s principles and desires for the living of all humans.