Becoming Worthy of Imitation

"You know how we lived among you for your sake.  You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit" (1 Thes. 1:5b-6, NIV).

It seems that the Christian motto these days is, "Don't look at me."  In an effort to appear holier or humbler than we are, we deflect attention away from our life.  However, Paul kept pointing to his life as a pattern which should be followed.  He even goes further by saying that following his pattern is the same as following Jesus.  To the Thessalonians he states, "You became imitators of us, and of the Lord."  He isn't saying they imitated both himself and Jesus, he was saying that by imitating him they were imitating Jesus.

It may be that our reluctance to use ourselves as an example stems from our dissatisfaction with our own person walk with Christ.  We don't believe we are good enough to be an example, and sometimes we are right.  But maybe we need to raise the bar a little higher.  Maybe we need to hold ourselves accountable for drawing nearer to God.  Maybe we should stop being satisfied with our anemic devotional lives, and start pursuing the Lord like he is the only good thing in the universe.

Some might counter, "But Paul was an apostle!"  That is true, and it provides a greater reason for obeying what he says.  It is apparent that Paul expects his audience to live in a manner worthy of imitation.  Our life should be so in tune with Christ that others can find him by walking in our footsteps.

The other side of Paul's statement, "You know how we lived among you for your sake," suggests that he immersed himself in the lives of the people he evangelized.  He was with them as a parent with a child.  He hovered over them, teaching them, in the faith, how to walk and talk.  He stood by them, correcting them, and encouraging them.  Paul used patterns deeply ingrained in the human experience (such as the parent/child relationship) as a structural bases for his interactions.

I came to faith in a context where I was supposed to ferret-out answers on my own.  I was given a King James Bible, a book on Baptist doctrine, and a lucky rabbit's foot.  Preaching centered on a clear-cut call to be "born-again," but often lacked further instruction concern what came next.  I am sure that most of the people I went to church were sincere.  They read their Bibles, the believed in Jesus, they prayed, but they often struggled to train new Christians to walk in obedience to Jesus.  I believe they loved Jesus and wanted others to love him, but they assumed people would learn the ropes without any hands-on training.

There are many churches in a similar situation today.  I find myself tempted to prepetuate this same kind of hands-off approach.  At times I have allowed myself to assume that new believers will take to the Christian walk like a fish takes to water and that they will be able to instinctively know how to do the right things in the right way.  But that runs counter to the biblical teaching.  Jesus commissions us to teach them everything he commanded.  We are taught to view new believers as babes.  Thus, the analogy that should drive our discipleship efforts is a parent with a baby, not a fish in water.

Paul acknowledged that their response to and growth in the gospel was the work of the Holy Spirit.  However, he appears to feel very comfortable with seeing himself as an instrument the hand of the Spirit.  Paul's walk in the Spirit, and the Spirit's fruit in Paul's life, provided the example the Thessalonians needed.  As the Spirit took a hold of them, they took a hold of Paul's example, and became a model for others to follow. 

What about you, could people walk like Jesus by following your example?  Are you nurturing those individuals you helped to come to faith in Jesus?  Who taught you how to pray? Study your Bible? Memorize Scripture?  Who are you teaching?

Note:  They didn't really give me a lucky rabbit's foot.