Imitate Me!

1 Corinthians 4:9-20 (NIV)

⁹ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! ¹¹ To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹² We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

 ¹⁴ I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you to imitate me. ¹⁷ 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. 

 ¹⁸ Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. ¹⁹ But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

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Question… if my primary directives are to love God, love people (the “sum” of the law and prophets), and to go and make disciples… and if discipling is done primarily through “imitation” (i.e. not in a classroom, but rather by living a life that meshes and interacts deeply with one who has the fragrance of Christ), is MY life worth imitating?   

Do I have the authority to say to someone, “Imitate me!”?  Do I have the fragrance of Christ, or the stink of man?  Does my life reflect the values of the kingdom of God, or the values of a fallen world?  Am I living a life of holiness? (Leviticus 11:44, Leviticus 11:45, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:7, Leviticus 20:26, Leviticus 21:6, Deuteronomy 23:14, Ephesians 1:4, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 1:15, 1 Peter 1:16, Revelation 22:11)    

Am I satisfied with “good” church gatherings only?  Am I living my life in such a way that is not only worth imitating, but have I invited others in to imitate me; or is my life a closed system?

Making disciples is not some great mystery.  It does not require a seminary degree, a 5 year plan, a 10 step strategy, or neatly organized systems.  It DOES however (along with some intentionality) require that those doing “the making” love God, love people, are holy, are accessible, and most importantly, that they live a life worth imitating – SO THAT they can, with the same authority of the apostle Paul say, “I urge you to imitate me.”