What Would Christianity Look Like?
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesLet’s say that you’re a Christian and people decided they wanted to be just like you — a perfect carbon copy. Would you urge them to do so?
Paul did not hesitate. He pleaded with the Philippians, “Brethren, join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as you have an example in us” (Philippians 3:17 NASB). That is a bold statement, don’t you think? Asking others to reproduce your faith, your manner of life, your dedication to Christ?
Would you really want anybody using you as a pattern or example? It’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?
The apostle Paul wasn’t trying to be arrogant when he called upon others to imitate him. He didn’t think that he had already been made perfect; but he was pressing on daily toward the “goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14 NASB). He had spiritual ambitions, and longed that those who desired to be mature in Christ would think in these terms. In every way, Paul tried to provide a pattern of Christian living and conduct. He lived a life for others to follow.
Just as Paul urged the Philippians, he would make the same request of the Corinthians. “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 NASB). Paul felt same in offering himself as a pattern because he was imitating Christ.
Would you be willing to say, “Let my example be the standard by which you tell who the Christians are among those about you?” (Philippians 3:17 NASB). Or, would you offer yourself as the model in self-renunciation, in humble service, in Christ-centered trust, in zeal and spirituality?
Suppose people everywhere took you for their model of a Christian.
What would Christianity look like then?
—John Gipson, via the Montana St. bulletin