Followers All

“Copycat!” “Mom, make him stop! He’s copying me!”

Do you remember when your little brother tried to do everything just like you? Or maybe you were the little girl who wanted to be just like your big sister.
Everyone needs a role model.

Each one of us needs someone we can look up to, especially in our formative years. Not our teacher; but more like the student one grade ahead of us, the person who has shown us that our goal is not impossible – after all, he got it! And if he can do it, so can I.

Our role model may be completely unaware that she is idolized. It may be the first chair clarinetist or the helpful deputy; the neighbor who is gracious in spite of family difficulties or the consistently friendly clerk at the grocery store. We may first be drawn by the uniform or the talent, but we usually come to admire the diligence, the integrity, and the grace. We may focus first on the external and unearned, but finally appreciate the character and core. We may not have the talent we desire, but we can develop the values that transfer to all areas of life.

But, just as we follow someone, someone may be following us.

The Apostle Paul actually had the audacity to say to Christians in the Corinthian church, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) In fact, Paul encouraged others to follow him in several of his epistles. (1Corinthians 4:16, Philippians 3:17; 1Thessalonians1:6; 2Thessalonians 3:9; Hebrews 6:12) To be sure, Paul set a high standard for himself. He set out to imitate Christ, so that anyone following his pattern would necessarily be following Christ’s pattern. But isn’t that the point? Shouldn’t we live in such a way that anyone who follows our example is living a life pleasing to Jesus?

Everyone needs a role model.

If you are in the following stage – young, or untrained, or embarking on a new endeavor – look beyond the natural talent or merely surface ability to find an example of diligence, integrity, and grace as applied to the area of your interest. Someone who models Paul’s rule – “as I [imitate] Christ” – will steer you to personal excellence and Godly values.

And for all of us all of the time: Others are watching, learning, repeating the things we do. Whether we know it or not. Whether we encourage it or not. In our homes, our work, our habits and language and responses. Dare we encourage it?

I wonder if my followers will be like Christ?