Follow Me?

Paul says in I Corinthians 11:1 "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." Whoa, Paul. Really? What a huge claim, right? But Paul is not arrogant. He is confident in who He is in Christ, who Christ has called him to be, and reassurred by the Holy Spirit that He is living a life obedient to God. He doesn't claim to be perfect. He admits that he used to "violently" persecute the church of God (Galatians 1:13). He says he still struggles against sin often ("I do the very thing I hate" - Romans 7:15), yet he knows and loves the Lord so much much that he can confidently tell others to follow the example of his life.

And this is not the only time he commands the church to follow him. Paul also tells the Phillipians to "join in imitating me" (3:17), he reminds that Timothy has "followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith" (I Timothy 3:10), and he tells the Thessalonian church it "ought to imitate us" (us being Paul and his fellow missionaries - II Thess. 3:7-9). And Paul is not the only one to promote this idea of mimicry. The unknown author of Hebrews says "Remember your leaders...and imitate their faith" (13:7) and Peter tells church leaders to "shepherd the flock of God...being examples to the flock" (5:2-3).

Clearly, these claims to "follow me" are a specific circumstance. These are apostles telling other church leaders to follow their example. Secondly, they are telling church leaders to set an example for their own congregations. I am not going to stand up on Sunday and tell my church to follow me. I am not a church leader. I am a woman who should not be leading men in the church. But does this still apply to me in a sense? I mean I UTTERLY fail all the time. I hope this blog has been transparent about that. I am impatient, selfish, prideful. I even try to paint myself in a good light, instead of just being open about how sinful and weak I am. But I also love God, and I know the Holy Spirit is at work in my life, and I know that by God's grace alone (and my NO effort of my own) I have become a much more disciplined and obedient person in recent years. Again praise be to God, this has nothing to with me. But should I take seriously that people will and even should follow me? Should other women, especially those slightly younger than me, high school and college students, former students (now friends) from Young Life and church ministry follow me? That seems weird, because I feel so unworthy to be followed most of the time. But one of the ways that we are the body of Christ on this earth is by setting an example of Him for other believers, especially younger believers who have few or no good examples in their life. If I am being obedient to Christ, then my life should be worthy of being followed. We are privileged to get to be an example of Christ on this earth, not only in the way we love and serve those who do not know Him, but in the way we show other believers how to be more LIKE him.

Not everyone should follow me. I think men should find a Godly male example to follow. Most women should NOT follow me. There are so many older, wiser, meeker, stronger women that I imitate because they show me Christ. But for those girls that are slightly younger, for those girls or young women whom I have mentored or discipled in the past... follow me. I love Jesus more and more each day, and I want you to love him and be changed by him and live for him. I don't ever want you to follow me for me. That would be dismal. I want you to follow me only because I follow Christ and He is so worth following.

Thanksgiving

I stumbled across a verse today in I Corinthians that is perfect to reflect on as we head into Thanksgiving week (and always). Paul writes his first letter to the Corinthians to address a LOT of sin going on in their chuch, and most, if not all, of that sin is caused by the Corinthian Christians' blatant pride and arrogance. And, yes, they were Christians, despite their immature behavior. Paul asks them why they would act like this when they have already been "washed...in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (I Cor. 6:11). Members of the church are getting into lawsuits with each other because of their selfishness and sin (I Cor. 6). Paul has to remind them that "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" (I Cor. 8:1), because the Corinthians have "knowledge" to justify all of their sin.

But Paul asks them, "What do you have that you did not receive?" (I Cor. 47). Answer his rhetorical question for yourself. What do I have that I have not received? Nothing. Paul then asks, "If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?" God has given us EVERYTHING we have. Not only our possessions (the sofa on which I sit, the computer on which I type, the coffee I just drank, the bed I slept in for eight hours last night), but our talents, gifts, experiences, relationships, even the very breath we breathe each second of the day. God has given me EVERYTHING in my life, both tangible and intangible. Some these gifts in my own life that come to mind right now are the legs I use to run as I train for a half-marathon in January (not to mention the money to register for a half-marathon), the opportunity to go to grad school (for free!), the mind I use as I read for class, my ability to write, the gift of the new chuch we found and love in Scottsdale, the best friends in the whole world who faithfully stay in touch with me despite living in Seattle, Texas, and Africa, and my sweet husband and our quaint little apartment. These few things are simply an ounce, a mere drop, in the overflowing bucket of God's goodness in my life.

But why, like the Corinthians, do I "boast" as if I did not receive these gifts from God? Sure, I don't usually come right out and boast as most would think of boasting, but my attitude toward these things and my behavior during the day is that of boasting. I take for granted so many of God's gifts in my life. I act as if I deserve my home, my food, my husband, my schooling, my job, etc. Instead of having a constant attitude of thanksgiving for everything God has given me, I all too often act with an attitude of entitlement. If I work too much, too little, if my schooling keeps me too busy, if Micah does something that irritates me, I think I have the right to be upset or resentful or to complain about these things. I also have the audicity to judge others, to critique their work or their lifestyle, and deem myself superior to them, even if it's just in the most hidden places of my mind and heart. This, my friends, is boasting. I boast with my thoughts, actions, and attitudes every single day, when EVERYTHING I have, including life itself, is a gift from God.

And so I will leave you with the words of the ESV Study Bible editors:
"What do you have that you did not receive? If Christians repeatedly ask this of themselves, it will produce deep humility and thanksgiving."

I urge you to ask yourself  this question daily, not just at Thanksgiving, but the whole year through. I plan to do the same. Hopefully, we can become more humble, thankful receivers of God's grace, and paint a more beautiful picture of the Giver during our short time on earth.