Message from the Chaplain

An Example To Follow

About 30 years ago now (!), when Michael Jordan was the most famous basketball player (arguably, the most famous athlete!) on the planet, a series of Gatorade advertisements were made which were some of the most successful advertisements ever.  Their simple slogan?  ‘I want to be like Mike.’  Though not many have played basketball to the standard of Michael Jordan since those ads screened, they inspired many youngsters to think – or dream – that it was possible…

Aiming to imitate someone’s sporting ability is one thing; but several people have attempted to imitate the looks of others in rather ridiculous and unhealthy ways.  There’s the woman who had 51 cosmetic surgeries to enable her to look like the ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti; the mother who paid thousands of dollars - just to look as much like her daughter as possible; or a Chinese woman who had plastic surgery to look like actress Jessica Alba, in order to win back her ex-boyfriend…

When it comes to our children choosing their role models in today’s society, to whom do we point them?  Things like sporting ability, money, social media status or physical appearance can count for something, but they’re ultimately shallow measures and (especially when it comes to money or social media) pretty unreliable. The inner qualities of good character, integrity, courage, compassion and so on are far more important; though they don’t usually feature that much in the discussions about what a person should want to copy…

In a letter to a group of Christians in the city of Corinth, the Apostle Paul instructs his readers to ‘follow my example’. That statement would sound rather arrogant, if Paul hadn’t continued straightaway with, ‘as I follow the example of Christ.’  Paul’s slogan for tackling life? ‘I want to be like Jesus’. Sure, Jesus Christ’s looks or sporting ability wouldn’t have inspired imitators; but for integrity in life, love, and service he is, and remains, the primary role model for us all. 

Rev. Mark Rundle

Calrossy Chaplain