Role Models & Hypocrisy

A comment on Frank's blog concerning Scott Stapp got me thinking about this - basically it goes something like this: "He/she should not do this/that because he/she is a role model and should know better/set an example". The inference is that the person is a hypocrite because their conduct should match their celebrity.

My question is: why?

Frank makes a great point when he says that being a celebrity does not transform someone into a role model. Since when does popularity translate into moral integrity? This is often a subject for Sports Radio when an All Black stuffs up publicly. Remember Norm Hewitt? And more recently Sione Lauaki. Why is it that an incredibly physically fit male with higher than normative aggression levels should be considered a role model? The reality: Norm hewitt became more of a role model in the aftermath of his public meltdown. He demonstrated the kind of resilience and transparency that set a great example for people dealing with brokeness. Not many will know that Norm has been actively involved in running a community facing trust that has done a lot of good in the Hawkes Bay. And I'm not even going to mention the dancing...

So, when it concerns a Christian "celebrity" whats the difference? Why do Christian organisations even perpetuate the creation of these celebritites? Does a person's musical talent guarantee their moral conduct? Why are we so dismayed when such a person falls from grace...hmmm...and its in that assumption that our attitudes are found out: such people don't fall from grace - they fall from the pedestal that we place them on, but not from the arms of God.

Here's where the real hypocrisy lies: its not the celebrities' hypocrisy that we should be concerned about. But rather the hypocrisy of those who need to judge in order to feel better about their own brokeness and failure.

We human beings are appallingly visually challenged - we see the specks OK but the logs evade us - we'd be much better served in getting specs than looking for them in others!