Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ....1 Cor 11;1 This admonition of Paul is interesting in many ways. Despite having been in the main highlight of the Kingdom for several decades, having framed and anchored the doctrine of Faith in hundred of kilometers of territories, Paul was UNWILLING to stand before the eyes of men as a corner stone. He was a follower of Christ and was imitating His master in the deeds in the lives of men. He did not want men to see him as an icon of their Faith, even if he fathered many in Christ, he drew his credentials from the fact that he was merely imitating Christ in everything he saw of and learned from Christ. Can you just think that Paul would stop all credits to his ministry and efforts? No. He showed behaviors that are worthy for men to follow from their highest to their simplest expressions, yet he refuse to project himself as being the model that initiated these behaviors,,,Christ is. Two things are worth for us to ponder here. 1. Paul is not only asking people to do what he did or to copy his actions and to call them actions of faith, as it is customary for us to do in this generation. He is asking us to endorse the mind of Christ that animated his life, the devotion of heart that he lived his Faith in Christ, the prayer life he lived, the whole doctrines he preached, not just those that suit our lifestyles and ministries, thus to be fully balanced in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the works of conviction of sin, the need of righteousness and of the reality of Gods judgment over every humans soul. Paul was asking his followers to look at the way he considered the things of this life, the way he looked upon his own right to prosperity and elevations as refuse and offsourings, preferring to live for the glory of Christ than for the glory of this age. Do you sincerely think you can do this? If you can, then you are fit to be considered as an imitator of Paul. And as an imitator of this spiritual quality, you can justifiably do every actions you have read Paul did, or even more. But if you cannot comply to this spiritual picture of Paul witnessed by clouds of witnesses, then you should forget about trying to do what Paul did. You would not satisfy the spiritual standards of this man to be called an imitator of Christ. Remember you cannot be an approximation of what Paul had been and still try to live the Faith he lived and perform the acts he performed. Either you shall deceive yourself, or you shall deceived a whole number of people who are directly concerned with you. In Jesus` expression, you would stand as a hypocrite trying to show a spirituality that you do not subscribe to. So being an imitator of Paul is not at all an easy doing, nor a simple thinking...it is a whole living system. 2. Paul encouraged people to imitate him because he drew his force, energy of life and all boasting from the fact that he identified himself as a follower of Christ. The second condition justifies the first condition. He would NEVER ask people to follow his example if he, himself, were unable to follow the example of Christ. The inter-connection between these two acts of imitations are of paramount importance for people to be in a spiritual linkage with the Holy of Holies. Just one moment, just imagine Paul being in alienation with Christ in the form of failure to imitate the characters of Christ that were manifested unto him. If Pauls life could not agree with the nature, feelings, and acts of mercy of Christ, and at the same time, he wanted people to imitated his model...Just think what this would inherit to the world, what and how deep the imperfections of spirituality and Faith our hearts would have been laid upon today. But praise be to God, Paul was a perfect imitator, a genuine spokesman of Christ, having refused to live for himself to ascertain that this mission of Hope and Faith not to be compromised to any generations that would read what he had written...And we are one of them. When we consider all these stars we imitate, recite, copy and paste today, many of us are so proud to be identified with those great names and what we define as big anointing...could we just a minute ask ourselves this question: Is my model an imitator of Christ? Because if he is not, that makes no sense that you follow something which is against the fabrics God gave to your heart. Could you sincerely ascertain that the icon you follow is an imitator of Christ? It is very easy to know this: compare his life with what Christ said it should be, compare his heart with the heart of the One who died for your sins, and compare his behaviors with the characters of Christ. If they do not fit...you should be honest to yourself before God as to who and what you should imitate and follow. Blessings.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 19:35:32 +0000
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