What are people seeing

I came across two interesting articles recently.  The 1st one was a few weeks ago involving former NBA star Jamal Mashburn.  In the article it highlighted how he has successfully made the jump from NBA player to the business world after his career was over (something many NBA players have failed to do).  In the article, he said this, which really stuck out to me,

“For me, being in business is always something I wanted to do. When I was a kid riding on trains in New York, I saw older people carrying a briefcase. I was always curious what was in them. That’s probably my original inspiration,”

From a very young age, Jamal was watching what others around him did and that inspired him to do more.  Very impressive.

The second article was something I came across very recently.  It involves a young football Prep star, Yuri Wright, who is being recruited by several major college football programs.  It ended up that he was just recently expelled from his high school for things that he wrote on his Twitter account. You might be shocked at first hearing this but if you read his tweets (that have now been deleted) and realize that he goes to a Catholic High School, it isn’t that shocking.  Because of his expulsion, a lot of the football programs recruiting him have dropped him from consideration.

In addition to this, the sad thing is that he has over 1600 followers on Twitter, many whom are younger and probably look up to him in some way.  This young man had a great opportunity to be a model to others something positive and greater than himself.  But instead he promoted a lifestyle and way that wasn’t very positive or healthy.

So the question is for all of us – what are we modeling?  What are we modeling with what we post on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media platform?  What are we modeling when we are with our friends and family?  What are we modeling when we feel like no one is looking?

Our ability to impact and our sphere of influence is great.  Especially for the next generation.  Students don’t need another jerk showing them the ways of life.  They can see that on any TMZ or news show.  They need someone they can look up to.  They need someone who will show them by example how to love their spouce and children.  They needs someone who will show them how to be nice or friendly or giving.  They need positive influences.

TAKE A MINUTE right now and think through your recent tweets or Facebook posts.  What did you communicate by the way you communicated to others?  Same with interactions with your spouse, children, superiors or co-workers.  Christ calls us in Matthew 5:16 to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”