Today’s Reading: 2 Samuel 21-23; 1 Thessalonians 1
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1:5-8
5 ...You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia — your faith in God has become known everywhere.
Observation: I love this! Paul, writing to the church in Thessalonica, is reminding them of the model that he provided for them by his own lifestyle. He and his companions demonstrated a quality of life that the Thessalonian believers imitated.
Note the progression in verses 6 through 8. First, they imitate Paul and his companions. Next, through that process, they imitate "the Lord" (vs. 6). Then, they "became a model" to other believers in the surrounding area. (vs. 7) Last, the strength of their faithful example became widely known. (vs. 8)
Application: Imitation is good. If we want people to imitate Jesus (as in WWJD -- What Would Jesus Do?), then we have to imitate Him ourselves and live an exemplary life. The people who follow me will first ask WWMD (What Would Mike Do?) before they are ready to ask WWJD. People will see what I do and they will do that, whether for good or not. They will follow us, whether we represent Jesus (good), or something else (bad). If we pray, they will pray. If we gossip, they will gossip. If we are negative, they will be negative. If we rejoice in trials, they will rejoice in trials. You get the idea. And whatever we model to them, they will model it to others. I want to be strong for Christ so that others will see and imitate that. If our modeling is totally Christlike and strong, the effect can be very powerful and contagious as we see in the example in today's reading.
Prayer: Lord, may we be excellent role models of Jesus' character and conduct. I pray that You would give us expanded opportunities to develop disciples through strong and persuasive modeling. I ask that You would make our lives strong transmitters of Your will and ways.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
3 comments:
A strong word for all of us as believers. Most of us are parents and need to be reminded that there are "little discples" who see us even at our most private times. We all have people watching and following us but those at home are the most important.
Carl,
I agree with you and I know Michael would too. That is always what people should ask but it isn't how human nature works, which is acknowledged in the Bible by the verses that warn us to be careful about how we live as believers. Jesus warned us about hypocrisy and also said there would be grave consequences for any person who "leads these little ones astray". Part of our responsibility is to model for others asing WWJD? first.
Carl, I disagree with your above comment. What I wrote is not about what people should do, it is about what they actually do. And it is completely Biblical. Note that what I am saying is totally in keeping with this passage. Nowhere does Paul refer to the Thessalonian believers imitating Jesus. In fact, Jesus isn't mentioned. They were imitating Paul and they became models to others who imitated them. This is how it works: people follow other people who lead them to follow Jesus. Paul wrote "follow me as I follow Christ." So it starts with following Paul and progresses to following Jesus.
I understand that cult leaders abuse this process but I believe it is a mistake to allow those abuses to cause us to shy away from this valuable principle.
Pastor Mike
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