America’s Next Top Model

How would you like to be America’s next top model?  Seriously!  No, I’m not talking about the six-three, hundred-pound, waify, gangly gal that struts down the runway with the goofy gait or the scraggly young man with the six-pack abs.  I’m talking about being an exemplary person in your field, the kind of person that others look up to and aspire to be like.

That is the kind of model citizen I want to be—and I’m guessing you do, too.  If we’re agreed on that, then here’s one of the secrets to become America’s next top model citizen: Get yourself a mentor—ideally, America’s current top model.

Of course, I’m using the term “model” facetiously to make my point, but hopefully the point is clear.  I believe that’s exactly what this proverb is talking about. Here it is from the Message:

Observe people who are good at their work—
skilled workers are always in demand and admired;
they don’t take a backseat to anyone.

Who is your model?  In every dimension of your life—your work life, your family life, your personal life, and your spiritual life—it really helps to have someone you admire and aspire to be like that you can interact with concerning the principles that have guided them to the top of their game.  I am not talking about someone from afar that you can only admire through the TV set or through a podcast.  That has some value, but it is not like having someone up close and personal speaking into your life.

So my encouragement to you is to get yourself aligned with a current top model—one who will help you to become the kind of husband or wife you want to be, the kind who will help you achieve uncommon success in your work, the kind who will motivate you to be a centered and winsome person, and the kind of person in your spiritual life who can say to you like the Apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 11:1,

“Follow me as I follow Christ.”

I thank God that I was fortunate enough to have just such a top model speaking into my life for over twenty years.  Charles E. Blair, who went to be with Jesus last year, served God until his final breath at age eighty-eight, still swinging for the fences in the cause of Christ.  I end this blog in honor of his life with these profound words I often heard him say,

“The greatness of a man is determined by the cause he lives for
and the price he is willing to pay to achieve it.”
~Charles Blair

Your Assignment, Should You Choose To Accept It:

The point of this blog should be obvious.  What may not be so obvious is that not only should every person have a mentor, but every person should be mentoring another.  As has been said, each of us, like Timothy, needs to have an Apostle Paul speaking into our lives. Likewise, each of us needs to be a Paul to some Timothy.  A good place to start is in your church. Talk to your church leaders this week and volunteer in the children’s or youth departments.  Seriously!