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Back in 1993, professional basketball player Charles Barkley made headlines when he declared, “I’m not a role model. Just because I dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.” He was right about that last part, but he failed to realize that when you play in the NBA, being a role model to millions of aspiring young athletes just comes with the territory. The only question for such men is, are you a good role model or a bad one?
The same is true in the Christian life. You may not think you are setting an example for anyone, but no matter who you are, someone looks up to you. And if you name the name of Christ, the only question is, are you a good example of what a Christian should be, or a bad one?
This is true even for young Christians. That’s why Paul told a young man named Titus:
“In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works” (Titus 2:7).
As all Christians know, you can’t be saved by doing good works; you can only be saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8,9). But as Paul went on to say in his letter to the Ephesians, Christians “should” do good works because God saved us freely by His grace (Eph. 2:10). As he says there about good works, “God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
And in learning to walk in good works, we study the cross and not the Law, and let “the love of Christ” constrain us, “that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (II Cor. 5:14,15). source
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