Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom
I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in
Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. 1 Corinthians 4:16-17 (NIV)
We are in the
world that is rapidly changing socially, spiritually, financially, psychologically,
politically, and ethically. A world where technology changes so rapidly like the
blinking of the eyes. You buy a phone today and tomorrow it is outmoded. A
world where you turn around to look for role models and you find only few
people. Ministers are falling, presidents are falling, CEO’s cannot be looked
up to, fathers and mothers are failing their children, and so on. A world where
people are unable to tell others to imitate them because they cannot trust
themselves. They say “do what I say but don’t do what I do.” This was no
different from Paul’s era. In 1 Corinthians 4:15, he wrote, “Even
if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for
in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.”
When
Paul encountered Christ on his way to Damascus, he surrendered all his life to
Him. He became a true servant of Christ from then on. As a servant, he looked
up to his master, Jesus, for direction in the new found life. He dedicated his
life to living like Jesus. He said, “For to me, to live is
Christ and
to die is gain. Philippians
1:21
(NIV). He was determined to live like Christ and he
did throughout his ministry. He was, therefore, confident to say, “I urge you
to imitate me,” and in v. 17 he stressed that that way of life was in Christ. First and foremost, the example for us to follow is that of Christ,
who left His heavenly throne as God to come in the human form to live just like
us. He came to experience what we have to experience. In Philippians 2:4-8 (NIV), says, “not
looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very
nature God, did not consider equality with
God something
to be used to his own advantage; rather,
he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
In this verse, we see that Christ did not look to His own interest
but He looked out for the interest of humankind. He could have stayed in heaven
to enjoy His throne but He gave up His royal throne to come to His own people
who did not even acknowledge Him. In all
His relationships, He looked out for the welfare of those He came into contact
with. When somebody was sick He healed the person. When somebody was hungry, He
fed the person. When somebody was afflicted, he set the person free. When
somebody was thirsty, He gave them water to drink and many more. Everywhere He
went, He was doing good. This is the example that He set for us to follow. As
we relate to one another, let’s look out for the welfare of each other.
This was the example that the disciples/apostles followed. There
was nobody in need among them. They followed their master’s example by caring
and catering for the need of each other. As a church we ought to imitate Christ
in our daily relationships with one another, with our spouses, our children,
friends and all people we interact with. It is our Christ-like nature that will
attract people into the Kingdom of God.
The
disciples were first called Christians in Antioch because they could easily be
identified with Christ. They were carbon-copies of Christ. Can people say the
same thing of you like the disciples or can you tell others to imitate you as
you imitate Christ? I urge you today to strive to be an example of Christ!
