The Mimic Gimic

Father’s Day is in 3 weeks. Unfortunately for Fathers, they are going to have an extended Father’s Day because this week and next week, which are not Father’s Day sermons, will discuss fatherhood.

If you were to describe a father, how would you describe him and his role?

Some of us might have hard time with that question, because the dad in our life is not good. He is sinner and you don’t want to have anything to do with him because of how much he has hurt you.

Perhaps he was a sinner, but now he is dead. You think about to when he died and a huge weight lifted because the pain that he brought you is now in the past.

We can talk in idealized language about a father. But, that language is speaking of what a father is called to be, rather than what a father often actually is. Even though so many fathers do not meet the standard set by God, the standard is still there. The standard should still be pursued by fathers, across the board.

Paul refers to himself as a father to the Corinthians. He can say this, because he planted the church. Which brings an additional level to this fatherhood discussion.

Not only are biological fathers held to a standard. But, spiritual fathers are as well. Today and next week, as we explore this subject of fatherhood, I am going to specifically apply this discussion to spiritual leaders, though everyone can benefit from a close look at our own lives in relation to this standard. A spiritual leader could be a pastor, a Sunday school teacher, a deacon, a mentor.

1 Corinthians 4:14–21 NIV

I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 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. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 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. Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 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. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

These week will discuss how a father is an example. Next week, we will discuss how a father brings correction.

A Father is an example

Paul writes to the Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 4:16 NIV

Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

At first glance, this is a rather proud statement. Normally, we would think that a spiritual leader is to urge his people to imitate Christ.

Paul himself urged the Ephesians of this:

Ephesians 5:1 NIV

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children

But, in Corinthians, Paul says: imitate me.

Why in the world would he say that?

As humans, we naturally imitate other humans. We can say that we are imitating Christ, but in reality, we are merely imitating what we believe Christ is like through watching other Christians.

Which is very dangerous. If we are not careful, we will imitate someone who is not a picture of Christ, but is a picture of sinful humanity. We will begin to do things which are against God. Unfortunately, someone else is imitating us, and they begin to follow down this sinful path. All because we chose to imitate the wrong person.

When we do not consciously pick someone to model our lives after, we will subconsciously pick someone to imitate. More often than not, it will be our parents. Even if we do not want to imitate them.

Think about people in the Bible. Abraham moved to Egypt and was afraid that the Egyptians would kill him and take Sarah. So, he convinced Sarah to lie and say that she was his sister. Which technically, she was his half-sister. But, we won’t get into that.

Later on, he does the same thing again when he moves to Gerar. God protects Sarah and stands up for her integrity. Abraham is shown grace, but ultimately realizes that it is God who protects him.

Something important to remember. Both of these incidents happened before Abraham’s second son, Isaac, is born.

Isaac is born and he grows up. Famine comes into the land. He moves to Gerar because there is a possibility of food. God specifically appears to Isaac and promises to bless him and protect him.

Isaac doesn’t believe him. Guess what he does… Yup.

Genesis 26:7 NIV

When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

Isaac imitated his dad.

If we think about David’s family. David married a lot of women. He committed adultery with Bethseba. If we think about his sons, one son raped his sister. Another son, after he took the kingdom from David briefly, slept with all of David’s concubines.

We tend to imitate our parents in some way.

I have a good friend who has lived forty years longer than I have. He gave me a lot of marriage advice before Maggie and I were married. He and his wife started noticing that he would act like his dad, who we will call Bill, in certain marriage situations while she would act like her mom, who we will call Bertha.

When that started to happen, she would call him Bill and he would call her Bertha, to snap the other person back to who they were supposed to be, instead of who they naturally were imitating.

Paul says that he is a father to the Corinthians and that the Corinthians should imitate him.

In the same way, a spiritual leader should live their lives in a way that others can imitate. There are three main areas that Paul is urging the Corinthians to imitate him, and consequently three areas that spiritual leaders should be concerned about being a good example.

Be an example in worldview

First, Paul urged the Corinthians to imitate him in worldview.

In writing to the Corinthians, Paul is not trying to change their behavior. He is trying to change the foundation of their behavior: the way they view the world and their place in it.

Two weeks ago, we discussed briefly how a believer in Christ identifies with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

Next week, we are going to baptize some people who are publically identifying with Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

When we identify with Christ’s sacrifice, we are saying that his death was our death. Yes, the penalty of sin was taken care of by him and applied to our account. But, his death was literally our death. We have died to the things of this world. We have died to the sin of this world. We have died to the priorities of this world. We have died to the desires of this world. We have died to the reasoning and logic of this world. We have died with Christ. Literally.

Not only is his death our death, but his life is our life. He sits at the right hand of God, waiting for the fulness of time when he will come again and conquer everything, ushering in his eternal kingdom. His life is our life. Which means, we live our lives for the next life, instead of for this one. We live according to eternal values, eternal desires, eternal truths, eternal relationships.

Having died with Christ, and being raised to a new life, the way we view the world and our place in it should substantially change.

My mother has what she calls her “happy sunglasses.” They are yellow, which makes everything look happier to her. Her perspective on the world changes when she puts on those glasses.

When we are followers of Christ, our perspective of the world and our place in it changes, just as if we are putting on a set of sunglasses.

A spiritual leader should model this changed perspective.

What does this changed perspective practically look like?

Jesus said:

Luke 9:23 NIV

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

The cross is not a burden like a physical illness or a strained relationship. The cross is a mentality, an understanding that to follow Jesus means to follow him in suffering and death.

That death could be a death of our own plans, desires, priorities, ideas, and accepting his completely.

That death could be a death of relationships, as our choice to follow Jesus no matter where he brings us could cause relationships with friends and family to be broken.

That death could be our own death.

Jesus was issuing a call to those who might follow him and said: “Come follow me, and you may face the loss of friends, family, reputation, career, and possibly even your life”?

This change in worldview forces us to face the questions:

• Are we willing to follow Jesus if it means losing some of our closest friends? • Are we willing to follow Jesus if it means alienation from our family? • Are we willing to follow Jesus if it means the loss of our reputation? • Are we willing to follow Jesus if it means losing our job? • Are we willing to follow Jesus if it means losing our life?

This change in worldview says: This world is lost and going to hell. It provides nothing for me. Therefore, I am going to live for eternity, seeking all I need in Jesus, and doing what I can to lead this world to Jesus, embracing the suffering that will come from that.

I will take up my cross daily and follow him.

I think of the song.

I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; I have decided to follow Jesus; No turning back, no turning back.

2. Tho' none go with me, I still will follow, Tho' none go with me I still will follow, Tho' none go with me, I still will follow; No turning back, no turning back.

3. My cross I'll carry, till I see Jesus; My cross I'll carry till I see Jesus, My cross I'll carry till I see Jesus; No turning back, No turning back.

4. The world behind me, the cross before me, The world behind me, the cross before me; The world behind me, the cross before me; No turning back, no turning back.

Everything in our life is filtered through that lens. The choices we make, the priorities we have, the attitudes we exhibit, the way we face hardship and grief. Everything is filtered through the worldview of following Jesus with our cross on our back.

And when we face hardship and suffering for taking this route, we will continue on, because of our perspective, because of our worldview.

Spiritual leaders, are we modeling this perspective?

Be an example in action

If we have this worldview, we will act accordingly. Spiritual leaders are to be an example in what they do.

Paul says:

1 Corinthians 4:16–17 NIV

Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 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.

Paul lived distinctively as a follower of Jesus Christ. People did not look at him and say: “You know, he says that he is a follower of Jesus Christ, but, yeah, I don’t see it.”

I was in the coffeeshop one day, working on my sermon. Two men were talking at another table, using very colorful language. One of them turns to me and acts where I work. I tell him that I am a pastor here. He brightens up and starts talking about how much faith is important to him, and his language cleans up remarkably fast. After talking and sharing stories about his faith for about five minutes, his friend looks at him and says: You know, I never knew that faith meant so much to you.

It is one thing to say you are a Christian and to show that on Sunday mornings with the rest of the Christians, it is another thing to live it the rest of the week. To make dead sure that those around us know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, by how we live, that we are a follower of Jesus Christ, carrying our cross on our back.

As humans, we like our life. We like our routines. We like our comfort and our security. We like our culture. We like our pet sins.

If we consider our life like a sword, or a knife. A good knife is kept clean, polished, shiny. We don’t want rust spots. Too often, we as Christians say: Yes, I am a follower of Christ. Yes, I will show my life as a follower of Jesus Christ… except for that spot. I will let that spot rust out, because I like it. I am more comfortable with that rust spot, and you know, God is a God of grace, so I’m okay with that spot. God’s okay with that spot.

Pretty soon, that rust spot takes over and it isn’t good for anything.

A spiritual leader is to be an example in how he pursues Christ.

Paul said: “I want to know Christ.” The spiritual leader has this thirst, because he knows that it is only through the pursuit of Christ that the Christian life is possible.

He will savagely guard his time with Jesus, so that nothing will take it over.

One of my heroes is Ramesh Richard. He always carries a fountain pen around, which I have begun to do as well. He speaks of the fountain pen as a metaphor for his life:

The engine of a fountain pen is the nib, and if the nib is not cleaned, the ink begins to blot in the paper. Fountain pens [reveal to] me that the nib of my life needs to be clean. Fountain pens also have to be refilled, just like me. With the pace and nature of my busy, complicated, and fulfilling work, I deplete easily. I need to be filled and refilled for the tasks that are at hand. The most important [thing to remember about] the fountain pen is that the pen is powerless unless the author picks it up; [similarly], I am powerless unless the divine Author picks me up.

This man, along with many other godly men, have modeled to me the necessity of pursuing Christ, spending quality time with him, so that I can the fullness to turn around and be used by Him, the author of my life.

A spiritual leader is an example in action how he pursues Christ.

A spiritual leader is an example in action how he interacts with fellow Christians.

Paul was consistent in dealing with fellow Christians. He constantly strove to show unity with brothers and sister throughout the known world, no matter who they were. He sought unity with them.

He constantly strove to show them the truth of Christ, in a loving way, whenever they strayed from godliness, or whenever they needed encouragement. He showed grace and gentleness, humility and integrity.

We have a temptation to live one way on Sunday and another way during the week. We have a temptation to live one way when we are in public and another way when we are at home with our family.

I find it fascinating to talk to some people about their home life and then talk to their kids and see if it matches.

A spiritual leader is an example how he interacts with fellow Christians whenever and wherever it is.

A spiritual leader is an example in action how he interacts with the lost.

The Corinthians were blessed, so to speak, because they knew Paul before they met Christ and then they knew him after. They were able to see who he was and test whether he was consistently a follower of Christ, whether he held that consistent standard no matter who he was around.

Our call to godliness does not change depending on who is sitting at the table with us. In fact, if we can show consistency in our lives, the ungodly will want to know about the foundation of our lives, because they cannot understand why we are the way we are.

However, if we do not have attitude of Paul, as he embellishes in 1 Cor 11 1

1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

Following Christ, taking up our cross daily, the world around us will see someone who really doesn’t care about his faith. If we don’t care enough about it to live it, they will not want what we have.

A spiritual leader is to be an example in action, in worldview.

Be an example in conversation

He is also to be an example in conversation.

Paul says:

1 Corinthians 4:16–17 NIV

Paul’s worldview affected his actions, his way of life, but it also affected what he taught, what he said.

He refers to this constant vigilance over one’s speech in Col 4 2-6

Colossians 4:2–6 NIV

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

In these verses, he speaks of what he says to God and to others. He devotes himself to a conversation with God and he makes sure that his conversations with others are full of grace.

He is being an example.

A spiritual leader is to be an example in conversation.

With our worldview as followers of Jesus Christ, daily bearing our cross, we should be showing others speech which is consistent with that worldview. This pertains to the words that we say, which words we say, and the way that we say them.

Paul consistently taught the same message to every church he interacted with. He consistently showed people the Gospel and how their lives should be changed with the Gospel.

This entire letter which Paul has written is not a surprise to the Corinthians. They know what he has said. He has been consistent.

One of the best compliments anyone could say to me would be: Pastor, I have a question, but I know what you are going to say.

A spiritual leader is to be an example in conversation, in the words that we say.

We are to be an example in which words we say.

Paul comes down pretty hard on word choice in his letters. Eph 4 25-32 is a good example.

Ephesians 4:25–32 NIV

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

The words we say show our worldview. Is our word choice building people up, or to tearing them down.

A spiritual leader is an example in conversations, in which words we say.

Finally, we are to be example in how we say those words.

Paul said in that Colossians passage

Colossians 4:6 NIV

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Our conversation should always be full of grace. This is hard, because most of the time, we are around people or are in situations that we do not want to show grace. Quo any illustration you want to insert about kids, spouses, siblings, people at school, neighbor, coworker, pastor, etc.

As a spiritual leader, we are to be an example in our conversations, what we say, which words we say, and how we say them.

So, turn to someone near you and say: “I’m sorry: I’ll do a better job with my tongue.”

A spiritual leader as a father is to be an example in worldview, in action, and in conversation.

Now, we are all humans. We will not be perfect, nor will we be perfect examples of Christ. However, we should be going in the right direction. When we come up short, we should be an example of repentance.