Imitators of Christ
I’m a teacher at heart, but I didn’t stand in front of a classroom until I was forty-five years old. I’m also a confirmed introvert whose lifelong policy has been to keep quiet, shrink into the background, and observe but not be observed. This is why I so vividly remember the day—the moment—I stood in front of my students and commanded, “Everyone look up here at me, right here, in my face!”
Several things were going on in my head while (I hope) I hid my inward shrinking.
I can’t believe I just said that! This is my job now? I’m being watched every minute. That’s what teaching is. I’m not sure I can do this.
But I did it.
By continuing my own education in our school’s classical method, I gained confidence in my abilities and knowledge. The more I knew what I knew, the more readily I could say, “Listen to me, this is how it’s done.”
One of the most enlightening things I learned is that most children are more likely to succeed with direct instruction than by being given the “freedom” to use their instincts to follow vague suggestions.
I was (am) self-conscious about my handwriting. I attribute that to a lack of clear instruction when I was in grade school. So imagine my—shall we say, hesitation?—when I learned it would be part of my job to teach cursive to other people’s children. To my great relief, I found I would first have to practice a very specific method. I didn’t have to make it up.
Instead of criticizing, “Morgan, your r doesn’t look like the one on the board,” I could demonstrate, “Class, look up here and watch me again. Rs aren’t tables, and they aren’t saddles. Remember, angle up to the midline, short angle down, straight down to the bottom, slight curve up.” My students heard my instruction, repeated it, and imitated my motions. Many of my students surprised themselves with the beautiful handwriting they produced by being obliged to mimic me.
The first time I read the apostle Paul’s command to the Corinthians to imitate him, I remember thinking, Wait a minute! Why is he telling them to imitate him instead of imitating Jesus? I’ve always respected this guy, but he really did have some gall.
I understood better when I learned to read the epistles like the letters they are. Paul didn’t write in chapters, ending one thought and beginning another at the big numbers. Many of the people who would hear this letter read knew Paul personally. He opened by reminding the Corinthians who they were. They were called to holiness, and because of God’s grace, they were perfectly equipped for their calling.
Next, Paul admonished them to stop arguing about which faction in the church was the best. He was explicit from the beginning that his preaching when he was with them was about Christ, not about seeing which preacher—Apollos, Cephas, or himself—could gather the most followers. “Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” he asked.
If he wasn’t trying to gather a group of Paulians, what was he doing that gave him the right to tell the Corinthians to imitate him? Unlike the sophists, who spent all their time seeking worldly wisdom, and unlike the sign-seeking Jews, Paul preached Christ crucified. Christ is wisdom. Christ is the sign. Paul points Christians to Christ who exemplifies God for us.
As an apostle called by God, over and over Paul turned to the chalkboard, demonstrated the correct gestures, and said, in effect, “Look up here and do what I do.”
To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things” (1 Cor. 4:11-14).
Aw, Teacher, do we have to?
Yes, because “you are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
In this letter, and in others, Paul went on to say there are lots of things he could do, but he wouldn’t because his goal was not to seek his own advantage, “but that of the many, that they may be saved” (1 Cor. 10:33 ESV). Paul was called by God to the front of the classroom to demonstrate with his life an even more excellent way. He wasn’t making it up as he went. He had been through intense training and lived a life of continuing education. So he could show his credentials and say:
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1 ESV)
Lord, God, thank you for godly men and women who set an example for us. Most of all, thank you for showing yourself to us through your Son. Thank you for giving us everything we need in order to be like him. Teach us to know him and imitate his love. Amen.
Scripture for Reflection
“No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known” (John 1:18 ESV).
“Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?’” (John 14:8-9 ESV).
Reach for More
There is wisdom in choosing godly mentors who speak and teach biblically and live Christ-like lives. If you hope to be able to discern those leaders, you will need to study the Master. Read the Gospels. Practice reading the Epistles in the largest segments you can manage in one sitting so you can recognize their continuity and themes.
Through the gift of a faithful mother and grandmother, grew up knowing Jesus as a friend. Married for nearly two-thirds of her life, there has been time for several seasons, from homeschooling to owning a coffee shop. She has three grown children and eight grandchildren. An element of this season is writing about literature and life at Plumfield and Paideia.
Photograph © Priscilla Du Preez, used with permission
