“IMITATE ME”
Imitate me!
That’s a pretty gutsy invitation. It’s bold. It implies that the person being imitated is worth copying, that there is something unique about them that leads to success.
Wouldn’t you feel a little cynical if someone said, “Imitate me”? Wouldn’t you want to observe them a little longer before following the pattern of that person’s life? And yet imitation is the way we have always learned to do things.
You parents have dedicated yourselves to raising your children in the fear of the Lord. By making this promise, you are setting yourselves up to be models of godliness and faithfulness to the Lord Jesus. When your children see you praying, they will learn to pray. When you interact with each other in words and actions, your children will learn grace from the way you talk and walk.
Learning by imitation takes place from the simplest preverbal communication (touch and action) to the most complex adult interactions. We learn to talk as children by imitating others. We learn to function in life by imitating others.
Imitation is the basis for much of our success as human beings. That is why apprenticeship, a novice learning from an expert in the trades, is so much more meaningful than simply learning the theory of being an electrician.
Maybe it’s not so strange then that Paul would boldly say, “Imitate me.” Perhaps you think it arrogant that Paul would tell the Philippians to copy his faith and life. But if you think about it, Paul’s desire to live for Christ at all costs, at the loss of all things, is worth imitating. People who are just getting to know Jesus and the Jesus-way need an example to follow. They needed authenticity; they needed to see an example of the true Christian walk.
Paul offered himself. He said, “Walk like this.”
Can we say to others, “Imitate me” in the same way?
Two Ways to Walk
In our passage this morning, Philippians 3:17-21, Paul talks about two ways to walk. “To walk” is a common metaphor in the NT; it means “how you live.” Our walk encompasses the entirety of our lives, what we stand for, what we believe.
To end on a positive note, we will look at the negative examples first – how not to walk. The art of walking reminds me of the Ministry of Silly Walks, a Monty Python sketch. Arthur Pewtey wants to patent a silly walk, but Mr. Teabag, the minister of Silly Walks doesn’t think it is very silly. Teabag then shows him what a silly walk really looks like.
We need to see the wrong way to walk because we may discover that we have been walking all wrong. Then we need to compare our walk with the right walk. This is what Paul demonstrates.
1 The Danger of “Jaywalking” (3:18-19)
You know what “jaywalking” is, right? It’s when you cross the street unlawfully and without regard for traffic. Why it’s called “jaywalking” is ambiguous and I’ve never met anyone who’s been ticketed for it. But I thought it was a good illustration of what Paul is saying about walking the wrong way.
Paul describes the jaywalkers in five ugly phrases. But first, notice three things he says about these bad models. He says there are “many” of them. They were everywhere in the first century and they are everywhere today – people who walk their own without regard for the law. But for Paul, this is not about condemnation – he has tears his eyes over these people. It may be because they are harming the church by their influence; it may be that their ungodly behavior grieves Paul and he wants them to know Christ. Or it may be the third thing: who these people are. They are IN the Church. They are professing to be “born again” but are not acting like it. They are part of the church in appearance but not in their hearts.
Paul says of these “jaywalkers” that they “walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.” They don’t deny that Christ was crucified, but they “walk” as if it didn’t matter. They were offended by the idea of a crucified Jesus and all that the cross represents for the new life. The lifestyle of a Jesus-follower meant suffering, obedience, humility. They opposed this “walk” as unnecessary and claimed there are other ways to walk – other ways to cross the street. In fact, there are many ways to cross the street. These “Christians” came so close to embracing all that God had done for them only to step away.
Thus, “Their end is destruction.” My friends and I had to cross Portage Avenue to get to our Junior High. We didn’t wait for lights; when we saw an opening, we took it. We ran across six lanes of traffic to save time. Our jaywalking was dangerous, especially in winter when cars couldn’t stop quickly. To ignore the walk of Christ is destruction.
“Their god is their belly.” What Paul implies is that old saying, “If it feels good, do it.” When people are driven by their appetites, they do anything to satisfy it. Whatever their bodies crave, they feed. These are people who want the benefits of Christianity without the cost of discipleship. They play the part and attend church, go through rituals, and secretly gorge on whatever the world tempts them with.
“And they glory in their shame.” Paul echoes the prophet Isaiah who described the Jews in his day as “those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness,” (Is. 5:20). Morality is twisted these days too, as it was 2600 years ago. Society reinvents morality to suit the current fad and asks everyone to affirm it, to walk that way. They take pride in it. It’s one thing to sin – we all sin – but it’s another thing, when ignoring conviction and the need to pursue repentance, we promote and flaunt our sin.
Their “minds are set on earthly things.” They don’t just think about earthly things, they are obsessed with them. With a pessimistic worldview, this focus is on the here-and-now. Get out of life what you can before it’s gone.
If you walk in the middle of the busy road, you will get hit. The “jaywalkers” present a dangerous model to follow. Walk like them and you will wreck your faith.
2. Imitating the “Cross-walk” (3:17, 20-21)
Who are the most influential people in your life? We talked about the examples in our lives a couple of weeks ago. Who shows you “Jesus”? Follow their example. Imitate them.
Let’s return to Paul’s bold invitation. He said, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”
This is not the first time Paul invited his readers to imitate his attitude, behavior, or pattern (1 Cor. 4:16; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2 Thess. 3:7, 9; 2 Tim. 1:13). Even the writer of Hebrews invited his readers to employ imitation as a means of discipleship (13:7).
But what is Paul asking the Philippians to do exactly? To mirror his every move? To adopt his accent? To dress like him? That mimicry is cultlike where everyone has to dress the same and use the same tones. No one has the perfect anything to follow. This is not what Paul is asking.
The intention of this invitation is to strive to imitate others to the extent that they imitate Christ. If Paul wanted little Pauls running around, he would have kept up his spiritual advantages. We heard last week how he gave all of that up for the sake of knowing Christ. He renounced any privileges, gains, status that he had so he could gain Christ. Paul wanted the Philippians to have that outlook.
Paul made up a word when he said, “join in imitating me.” In the Greek there is a prefix that sets the tone. Verse 17 could be read as, “Be fellow imitators with me of someone else, that is, Christ.”
If there is any doubt in your mind and still think that Paul was full of himself, remember what he wrote earlier: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own,” (3:12). He does not claim to be perfect. Paul is a seasoned follower of Christ who has something to offer younger or newer disciples. His goal is Christ, which is why he said to the Corinthians, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ,” (11:1).
What are we imitating? In verses 20-21, Paul contrasts the “jaywalkers” with those who use the “crosswalk.” Of course we are imitating Jesus, but Paul describes it this way: “…our citizenship is in heaven (as opposed to the this-worldly attitude of the jaywalkers), and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…” We are citizens of a different realm. We are colonists of the heavenly kingdom.
Many Christians misunderstand this phrase and take it to mean that we just have to endure this life until Jesus comes and takes us to live in heaven. That is a great hope, but it’s not what Paul is saying here. He is saying that we should live like we were already in heaven, with the character and posture of people who live in harmony with one another, loving one another, existing in the full grace and peace of Christ. Right here, right now!
Consider the context. He is talking to Philippians. They were proud of their status as a Roman colony, as a “little Rome away from Rome.” In other words, they didn’t live like Greeks, though they were in Greece; they walked like Romans. They had owned this privilege since BCE 42, 100 years before Paul arrived.
In the same way, we are citizens of heaven – people touched by the heavenly man, Jesus Christ – and we don’t live like Rosenorters, but like colonists of heaven. In the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done.” We are asking the Father to make his values of his kingdom known in us and through us in the context of our little village.
We want to do this because we are awaiting a Savior from heaven to come again and transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. That’s our great hope – to be restored. We suffer the life of the cross of Christ, forsaking the values of the Canadian life where it contradicts Christ, so that we may receive new bodies that will never wear out with cancer and age. We are a colony of heaven, a colony of hope and of transformation. We are different.
I found a great story to illustrate this waiting for Jesus. Bud Wood founded Shepherd’s home in Wisconsin for boys and girls with developmental disabilities. It opened in 1964 with 36 children and provided them with a loving residential environment and school where they could learn and discover their potential. Most importantly, these children were taught about the love of God and encouragement to walk with Jesus.
Bud asked a visitor one time, “What do you think our biggest maintenance problem is?” The visitor didn’t know.
“Dirty windows. Our kids press their hands and faces against the windows because they’re looking to the sky to see if today might be the day that Jesus will return for them and take them to his home where they will be healed and complete.”
Oh, that we would have dirty windows!
We are to imitate the Christ-centered examples of faith who live among us, to walk with Jesus as they do.
Take up Paul’s challenge and find someone whom you believe is walking closely with Jesus and imitate their cross-walk. Go for coffee with that person and mine their hearts for insights on living the Christian life.
J. Ligon Duncan writes about one of his professors who preached a sermon on prayer. “At the end of that sermon he was exhorting us to have a regular pattern of prayer for ourselves and for others woven into our lives. It was a powerful exposition of Scripture. It was deeply convicting. But nothing prepared us for what he did at the end of the sermon. We had never heard a preacher in our lives do this. He looked at us, right in the eye, and he said, “Do as I do.”
Secondly, be an example. Live the cross-walk for others to follow. You may not believe that you are good enough to be an example for others, but I read recently that’s just false humility. Former NBA star Charles Barkley is famous for saying, “I’m not a role model.” And yet young ballers wanted to be like him, but he didn’t want that responsibility. Tough, he had it – he was visible. And you are too.
Third, live as a citizen of heaven. Adopt the values of the King and his kingdom, live them. Choose Jesus in all circumstances and challenges.
And live in expectation of the King’s return. Let’s dirty our windows in anticipation of his coming.
AMEN
