Imitate Me

Sounds pretty haughty, doesn't it? Truth is there is a lot of truth in that statement - just not how it is sometimes applied today in the church.

I want to take a somewhat reflexive moment on the role of the pastor. There are plenty of good things about being a pastor - and plenty of good reasons for them to exist in the church. The body of Christ needs good teaching and they need godly leaders to watch out for the members of the body and protect them.

The Scripture the title of this post refers to is 1 Corinthians 11:1. It says "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." The problem some pastors face today is that they live the first part of that verse and forget the second. Some pastors see their congregations swell, they get "fans" and some fame. Pastors are human too (I know that seems hard to believe sometimes) and I think all that power goes to our heads.

They start thinking that they are the reason the church is what it is. And they mistakenly start putting more of themselves out there and less of Jesus. When subtle contradictions in character arise, it becomes more their character and less of the Lord's character that they exhibit. But as long as the church is "successful" then they can justify that behavior. "Where God guides, God provides" right?

Well, I want to challenge that - and I say that as a pastor. Our responsiblity is to always reflect the character of our Lord Jesus - and then encourage people to follow that example. It's not our character they are imitating, but the Lord's in us. In any point at which we stray from what Jesus is like then we are wrong wrong wrong and no one should imitate that.