2.24.26 – Imitate Me

Last night on the call, I had the opportunity to ask a fundamental and completely honest question: If we are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a chosen generation, a peculiar treasure (1 Pet. 2:5–9), should our daily activities look anything like the priesthood in the heavenly sanctuary that acted as the template for all the earthly Tabernacle activities (Heb. 8:5; Ex. 25:8–9; 28:1–6)? Without a doubt, the evening was enlightening, encouraging, challenging, and for some, more inspiration to press on with a more focused and intentional life.

There are so many questions and enough theological mumbo jumbo to get horn-snaggled in the minutiae of spiritual rhetoric and terminology. All theological perspectives aside, one idea we can all agree on is to be imitators of our Lord and those who are imitating Him (1 Cor. 11:1; Eph. 5:1–2). One of life's greatest axioms is: just imitate who you want to be like! And since we are His Tabernacle (2 Cor. 5:1–4)—His dwelling place on earth—we need to imitate the heavenly Tabernacle in word and deed :-) 

In 1 Corinthians 11:1, the Apostle Paul said, "Imitate me as I imitate Messiah." Simple, isn't it? The Corinthians would not likely be the "assembly of people" that "we" would make this exhortation to. They had every problem under the sun! They were divisive, argumentative, had marital issues, sexual deviants, family issues, taking one another to court—you name it, they had it! Yet Paul says, "Imitate me" (1 Cor. 11:1). And in his second letter, he exhorts them to live as a pure, chaste virgin in their relationship to the Messiah (2 Cor. 11:2), which includes the calling to be kings and priests (Rev. 5:10):

"For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."
(2 Cor. 11:2)

"And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."
(Rev. 5:10)

We live in a society, spiritually, that is too often void of this concept. If someone were to say, "Imitate me," it would be misconstrued as self-aggrandizement, self-righteousness, placing oneself on a pedestal, and encouraging spiritual narcissism.

Maybe we do not say this to those we lead because we know there are too many shortcomings in our own lives, and we do not want people to look too closely at an earthly example of a heavenly-minded lifestyle. Ironically, in every realm of life, we imitate those we want to be like (BTW, that is not idolatry or covetousness). Whether it is in the area of business, leadership, athletics, finances, or recreation, we are always imitating in order to be the best in those fields. Why do we not do it spiritually? Why all the spiritual superfluous ideologies, philosophies, and arguments? Is it because we know that if people look too closely at our lives, their imitation will not draw them closer to the Messiah (Rom. 8:29)?

Who was Paul to say something like that? Was he not the guy who had the "oozing eye" syndrome that lacked faith to be healed? Was he not the murderous villain of the early believers? Was he not the messenger of the Messiah who was always under the attack of the enemy? Was he not the one who had a major falling out with his brother? Was he not the one who struggled with absolute commitment? Was he not the one who, for the majority of his life, did not have it all together? Yep to all of them! Yet, there was still so much of his life to imitate because he was imitating the goal of our faith (Rom. 10:4).

This journey was meant to be lived with observation and imitation. Anyone can find flaws, but do we look for the best in others and imitate that? With Yeshua, our High Priest, and the heavenly Tabernacle and its perfections, there is much to emulate. And even with the copied version of the earthly priesthood, there is so much to imitate it is mind-boggling. The daily lifestyle challenge is on... :-) And when one of the imitators—or those who are imitated—stumbles (and it happens), ask each of the disciples, ask any of the Patriarchs, Prophets, or Kings... those righteous individuals get back up again, dust off their garments, and start living a life worth imitating again.

Strangely enough, this imitation concept is written nowhere else in the Apostolic Writings (the New Testament). It is not written anywhere in the Tanakh (the Old Testament: Moses, Prophets, and Writings). Yet, it is commanded, encouraged, and modeled everywhere that we would live our lives following the perfect Scriptures, which contained imperfect individuals, with patience and hope (Rom. 15:4).

This life is only a copy—an imitation—of reality, a reality that exists on another plane, in another dimension, in the heavenly realm. From a rabbinic sense of the word, to imitate (mimeomai) is the exhortation to make an exact copy. It involves real-world decisions and behaviors. This is not spiritual anticipation of a future life, neglecting the here and now. It is living it now with the anticipation that "the best is yet to come."

Paul is not telling the "not-so-model church" of Corinth to dream of pie in the sky and the by-and-by. No. He is saying, "Look to human examples of godly living and imitate that!" Certainly, we are not going to find anyone who is flawless (outside of Yeshua). Every earthly example will have flaws. Perfection, as often defined—"being without mistake"—is not an attribute of mankind in this world. But moving in and toward holiness is... true perfection. The path for the Corinthians is obviously clear: "Live like me!"

As I have said for decades, always look for the best in people. Imitate what is good. Swallow the meat and spit out the bones. Anyone can find fault in anyone—just watch me for any length of time, and I will disappoint you some way... sorry for that reality check :-)

Do not let past failures keep you from living the life that people can imitate. And, by all means, do not let people's judgments of what they think keep you from living what you know you need to live. Your life is going to draw someone closer to the living God today, and it will not be because of your doctrinal stance; it will be because of your loving action!

Have a shalom-filled day!
Alan

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