‘Follow Me’ / ‘Imitate me’ - The Misunderstood "Me"

 

When man tries to usurp God, that's when challenges shift from personal to a corporate level. The problem today is people are elevated and worshipped but God is used.  In some cases, people are deceived to an extent of elevating ordinary people as God. We find an incident in the book of Acts when Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra. Paul heals the man who was lame from birth and then people shouted saying, “The gods have come down to us in human from” Acts 14:10. In verse 13, it is recorded that the priest of Zeus brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds to offer sacrifice (Acts 14:13). Paul and Barnabas did not just overlook the misunderstanding. They tore their robes and rushed to the crowd shouting and clarifying that they are not gods, but servants of the living God proclaiming good news (Acts 14:15).

However, in present times, specially gifted people elevate themselves to the point of importance and mislead people. Spiritual leaders and Pastors continue begging people to follow the speaker in social media. Building fan base has become the ultimate priority and ulterior goal, which in turn means more money. The success of ministry and churches is sadly gauged by the "ABC model" - Attendance, Building and Cash.

Jesus' phrase ‘Follow me’ was used to build a team of twelve ordinary men to be revolutionaries. The phrase ‘Imitate me’ (1 Corinthians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 11:1) was used by Apostle Paul to create a model. We confuse these phrases in our ministry. Allow me to explain my point. When Jesus used the phrase ‘Follow me’, it had a definite outcome. If you check in Mark 1:17 it says, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.”. Only Jesus could use this phrase, ‘follow me’, in its true sense, because He was God Himself. Therefore, the agenda and goal of every Christian, Pastor and leader should be to get people to follow Christ. I reiterate, it's not the person or their ministry. It is not merely following the leader and being stunted in their vision to understand the Great Commission but being part of the ministry to engage and fulfill Christ's mission. There is a major difference.

Now coming to Paul,  we find in his epistles the phrase ‘imitate me’. In 1 Corinthians 4:16 says, ‘Therefore I urge you to imitate me’. And then in 1 Corinthians 11:1 further clarifies by stating this, “imitate me as I also imitate Christ”. It is perfectly ok to create a model or an example for people to see Christ in us. But not to create a fan base to meet our ends. Christ ensured that the followers become fishers of men, meaning ‘Disciples’ are supposed to make disciples. It is not just to settle and live a good Christian life without fulfilling God’s purpose to reach the non-Christians. Let us stop striving to build our base. The question that begs for an answer is are our followers equipped enough to share the gospel and create a model so that the crowd can find Christ?

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Smart drifting to fall aside!

 

"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. "Galatians 3:3-4 KJV

It isn't always a grave deviation that demands us to deflect from our convictions. It only takes tiny adjustments and subtle compromises that entices us to wander away from the truth. Apostle Paul's question to all of us stirs up our conscience and challenges us to remember our initial commitments and sufferings endured for Christ. Our life has taken a devious turn of living in blatant carnality and embracing a form of godliness. It is this constant seepage of unfaithfulness that has inundated our hearts to totally submerge our faithfulness and loyalty to God altogether.

It's ever too familiar with many children of God who started their voyage with Christ passionately, but anchored themselves mid journey in complacency, resulting in diminished enthusiasm and commitment. Somehow, this comfortable life seems enticing and it convinces a believer to assume that he/she needs comfort and needs met by God all his/her life, with no room for any suffering. This flawed theology gives way to accommodate prosperity theology, which is guaranteed to wreck our faith sooner or later.

It would be wise on our part to consciously analyze where we stand in our faith journey. It is possible to be deceived and blindsided by many factors including our ministerial responsibilities. Apostle Paul's all time advice is worth being made a rule of the thumb, "but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 CSB. Testing all things should include the good and the fake. And most important advice given to us is to stay away from every kind of evil. For Christians the bigger outright crimes are not the BIG NO's, but the very small compromises that looked religious to us, at some point.

It is a disheartening fact to start with the spirit and drift to perfect in flesh. The bad swallows up the good and soon takes the one who has drifted to become the worst kind of evil person. Apostle Paul warned us in 2 Timothy 3:13, saying, "Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived.". Today there are other religious faiths who have exclusively started a website and Twitter account to expose the debauchery and embezzlement of Christians done in the name of Christ. We look no different from other faiths when it comes to these types of crimes committed. The commonalities are alarming.

"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Galatians 5:9 NKJV. It doesn't take obvious temptations to subvert one from the journey of faith. Small compromises can cause similar damage. It's time for us to retrospect and maybe start asking the following questions, as individuals, to help check our spiritual health:

What is my area of vulnerability?

Which area of my life am I forced to compromise?

Who are my friends who have strong influences on me?

Where do I fail miserably?

What are my weaknesses?

Have I disobeyed God lately in any matter?

How involved am I in His mission?

How do I utilize most of my time?

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