What does it look like to imitate Jesus? Some
think that it looks impossible, since Jesus is the perfect Son of God, how
could someone possibly imitate him? This line of reasoning can cause you to
seek to claim the grace of Jesus without making any effort to actually obey his
commands. Jesus himself warns against this line of thinking at the conclusion of
the Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore everyone who hears these
words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his
house on the rock. The rain
came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house;
yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who
hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish
man who built his house on sand. The
rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that
house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew
7:24-27 NIV) The difference between a life that can withstand the storms and
one that is washed away by them is simply a willingness to practice the
commands of Jesus!
Jesus was humble and
compassionate in heart, fervent in prayer, loving and forgiving both friends
and enemies, full of grace and truth, and overflowing with patience and joy. To
know that these things are true about Jesus does not really improve our lives
at all – we must allow Jesus to create these same commitments in our hearts.
The path to spiritual maturity is achieved by creating space in our hearts and
lives for Jesus to do his transformative work. When we imitate Jesus, we begin
to make spiritual progress.
We certainly know that all of
our efforts to imitate Jesus will come up short of actually living a sinless
and fully mature life, but that cannot hinder us from making the effort. Paul
once said, “Imitate me as I imitate Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) He was
not claiming to be perfect, for he lists his limitations in other places, but
he was striving to live like Jesus and he was successful enough at it that he called
others to follow him on that path!
The imitation of Jesus is not
a short term project, rather it is the consuming life goal of all disciples of
Christ. Eugene Peterson calls this “A long obedience in the same direction!” The
writer of Hebrews tells us to “remember your leaders who spoke the word of
God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.”
It is that willingness to “consider the outcome” that makes the imitation of
Jesus, not only a burning passion for disciples, but the only sensible way to
live the life you are given. If you choose to imitate anyone but Jesus as you
walk through life, in the end you will regret that decision.
G.K. Chesterton once said,
“Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult
and left untried.” The same is true for
imitating Jesus. Much like a child mimicking a parent, imitation is difficult
at first, but you will grow into it – Jesus promised to be present to help us!
- Kenny Payne
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