According to the Bible, the normal Christian life should involve a
lot of imitating what others do.
Imitating Jesus
First and foremost, we should imitate Jesus Himself.
Relevant here are the Gospel passages which refer to Christians as
those who ‘follow’ Christ.
For example, in Mark 8:34 Jesus teaches:
‘If anyone wants to follow Me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross and follow Me.’
Similarly, in John 8:12 He states:
‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.’
And in John 12:26 He says:
‘If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me . . .’
Many other Gospel passages also contain this theme of following
Christ.
It is true that the concept of following Jesus in all these
passages has mainly to do with submitting to and obeying Him. But there does seem to be a sense too in
which, to some extent, they are teaching us to follow Him by imitation.
In the New Testament letters we are also encouraged to imitate
Jesus.
In Philippians 2:5-7, for example, Paul tells the church in Philippi :
‘5 Have this attitude among yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. 6 Although He existed in the form of God, He did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. 7 Instead He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, and was made in human likeness.’
Here Paul is instructing the Philippians to imitate Christ’s
humility and service.
Similarly, in Ephesians 5:2 Paul teaches:
‘. . . walk in love, just as Christ also loved us . . .’
And later in the same chapter, at Ephesians 5:25 , he says:
‘Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church . . .’
Given that love is the number one virtue in the New Testament,
it’s no surprise that Paul should want Christians to imitate Jesus in His love.
Peter is another writer who teaches the imitation of Christ. In 1 Peter 2:20-21 he states:
‘20 . . . But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, this brings God’s approval. 21 For you have been called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps.’
In these verses Peter is encouraging his readers to imitate
Christ’s patient endurance in suffering.
According to the Bible, then, every Christian should be someone
who imitates Jesus in various ways. And
as we read Scripture, it is worth keeping this principle in mind.
Something else that can also be helpful when we are confronted
with a difficult situation is simply to ask what Jesus would do if He were in our
shoes. This too is a kind of imitation
of Him, or at least an attempt to imitate Him.
Exceptions to the
principle of imitating Jesus
It is true that there is a limit to how much we should imitate
what Jesus can be found doing in the Bible.
There are times when imitation is not appropriate.
One example of this is Jesus’ response when He is questioned by
the Jewish Sanhedrin and by Pilate (e.g., Matthew 26:62-64; 27:11-14). He remains largely silent and mostly refuses
to straightforwardly answer the questions that are put to Him.
The significance of Jesus’ silence before the Sanhedrin and Pilate
is debated. However, it seems that there
was some special reason for it that applied specifically at that time.
It would surely be a mistake to argue that Christians who find
themselves being questioned by authorities should not cooperate with those
asking the questions because that is what Jesus did. That would be to take the principle of imitating
Him too far. And it would also fit badly
with those passages which assume that Christians under cross-examination will
speak out (e.g., Matthew 10:18-20; Luke 21:12-15).
It is a mistake, then, to think that we must try to imitate
everything we find Jesus doing in the Bible.
There are times when imitation is not appropriate. But nevertheless, as a general principle it
is still right for us to aim to imitate Him.
Imitating God
Because the God-Man Jesus was fully human and without sin, it really
isn’t surprising that the Bible teaches us humans to imitate Him.
What is perhaps not so expected, however, is the command Paul
gives us in Ephesians 5:1:
‘Therefore, be imitators of God . . .’
What this must mean is that we should aim to develop moral
characteristics that fit with God’s nature.
He is infinite love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness etc., and we
should imitate these qualities. This verse
recalls another remarkable verse, 2 Peter 1:4, which tells us that Christians
are partakers in the divine nature.
Just as there are some ways in which Christians shouldn’t attempt
to imitate Jesus’ life on earth, so there will be even more ways in which we
shouldn’t attempt to imitate God. In many
respects He has rights that we don’t have, and playing God by doing something
that He alone should do is a grievous sin.
By contrast, however, attempting to imitate God’s moral qualities in no
way denies His sovereignty.
Imitating biblical
personalities
As well as including commands to imitate Christ and God, Scripture
instructs us to imitate other biblical personalities too.
To begin with, there is the apostle Paul.
In 1 Corinthians 4:16, for example, Paul tells the Christians in Corinth
‘Therefore I urge you to imitate me.’
And in Philippians 4:9 he teaches:
‘Put into practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me . . .’
He says something similar in 1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17 ; 1 Thessalonians 1:6 and 2 Thessalonians 3:7-9.
Obviously Christians today don’t know Paul personally. So we can’t look directly at his life and
copy things that we see.
Nevertheless, in his letters we can get plenty of ideas about how
to imitate him. Mostly this will be by following
his moral example. But we can learn too from
how he dealt practically with situations he was confronted with.
The letter to the Hebrews also encourages imitation of biblical
personalities. In Hebrews 6:11-12 the
author tells his readers:
‘11 And we want each of you to show the same diligence, so that you may have the full assurance of hope until the end. 12 Then, instead of being lazy, you will be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.’
Because these words are followed immediately in verses 13-15 by a
reference to Abraham, v. 12 is surely referring, at least mainly, to Old
Testament men and women of God. There is
doubtless also a connection between v. 12 and the list of heroes of the faith
in chap. 11, all of whom are certainly presented as examples to imitate too.
Imitating each other
Moving away from major figures of the Bible, Scripture also instructs
Christians to imitate each other.
In Philippians 3:17 Paul tells his
readers:
‘Brothers, join in imitating me, and pay close attention to those who live by the example you have in us.’
Here Paul instructs the Philippians to imitate those who are
themselves imitating him and his close co-workers.
And in Hebrews 13:7 the writer says:
‘Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.’
In this verse we see encouragement to imitate devout Christian
leaders.
We can surely all gain a lot of insight into how to live a holy
life from simply observing how other Christians act and speak. And whenever we see something good, we should
aim to do likewise.
For instance, we might know believers who seem especially
Christ-like in some way, perhaps in their love or humility or another virtue. Or we might meet such people from time to
time. Instead of just admiring these
qualities, we should consciously aim to imitate what we see, praying that God
would help us do so.
Imitating other
churches
Nor should imitation be just an individual thing. Churches should also aim to imitate things of
value that can be found in other churches.
Any church which is seriously trying to follow Christ as Lord will
be continually modifying its practices. The
Christians there will be constantly looking at what they are doing to see what
could be improved. And one major way we
can make improvements is simply by watching what other churches do and then
imitating what is best.
Concluding thoughts
It is clear, then, that imitation should be a major principle in
Christian living. There are many
biblical texts where we are instructed to imitate others. And following good examples is something that
so obviously makes sense anyway.
Each of us should get into the habit of imitating Jesus, God,
biblical figures and Christians we know.
And churches should also imitate each other.
Whenever we see things that are positive, we shouldn’t just admire
but always aim, if possible, to follow suit.
It’s such a simple principle, but one that is so worth putting into
practice.
See also:
