Role Model

Role Model

by Duane Thomas

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 
1 Cor 11:1 ESV 

Jesus as role model  

Today let us look at the topic of role models. You know, in our media saturated world there are so many role models or influencers, some good some not so good. I want to talk about Jesus as our significant role model. It does not matter what your career or your position is whether you are a mom, dad, manager, pastor, employee, Jesus as role model, His ways, His outlook on life applies to us all. He is the perfect role model. He acted from a place of perfect understanding of why He came to the earth, and He was fully aware of the nature of man and acted accordingly. His actions and his motives towards man was never to hurt, but to bring healing and wholeness. He was acquainted with the full spectrum of human emotion and temptation and yet did not sin. 

One of the things that comes to mind when I think of an influencer is this, the will is involved. Whoever we follow consistently, to some degree or another we have submitted our will to the one being followed. Think about it, a person can engage their will to varying degrees. The degree to which their will is open is the degree to which they will receive. I will return to this point later. 

Paul the apostle said, “Imitate me just as I also imitate Christ” 1 Corinthians 11:1. The KJV says “Be ye followers of me, even as I also of Christ. “ 

The Greek word for imitate is mimētḗs. It means the positive imitation that arises by admiring the pattern set by someone worthy of emulation   

In the Bible days many people were defined by the people they followed. The same is true of today 

When I was a chef, in that world, an up-and-coming chef was judged by whoever mentored him or her. It was important to be under the wings of a chef that you had high regard for. If you could be mentored by a celebrity chef, that would take your career to the next level. It was easy to see who had been discipled by whom just by observing the skill and creativity of some of the chefs I was around. You could see who they were influenced by. 

I want to be like Jesus. Don’t you?  

How is Jesus influencing you today? In what way is He impacting how you think; the decisions you make the people that you interact with; and the things you pursue? 

His attitude was this He did not live His life to please Himself. Let us read Philippians 2:5-8 NKJV

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 

His attitude was the opposite of what we see today. The selfishness we see in our world has become normalized. But for the Christ follower this is not how we are to operate. We live from a deep understanding of love and consideration of others. 

As Paul told the believers in Romans 15:1-3 ESV We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 

Jesus loved us so much that He chose to die for the world. See John 3:16. For us it may not be so extreme, dying for someone, but the principle is the same. We choose to live a life of selflessness with the help of Holy Spirit. For the believer, this is the place of peace. And not only a place of peace but also a place of power. When He lived on the earth Jesus demonstrated His power in so many ways. People were healed; people were delivered of demonic spirits; people were prophesied to and so forth.

This cannot be overstated. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, He is the role model of role models. He is the one that you and I are actively in partnership with. We do not have put our sole confidence in another human being no matter how successful they are. They are not God.  

Back to my earlier point about receiving. I said the degree to which a person is open, is the degree to which they will receive. If we are fully open to receive Christ, then He is fully open to giving us all that we need to fulfill destiny. Do you want to see the dead raised? Do you want to bring effective solutions to someone in despair because of poverty? You can do this and more as you open yourself to Him. It is a beautiful thing to be an instrument in the hand of God. Powerful! 

Choose God. Choose His Holy Spirit. He will always for as long as He is here in the earth realm, help you in your walk. Others may not know the challenges you face as you choose to live a disciplined lifestyle following Christ. But take heart, joy will be your friend. You have access to it because it is a part of the package of salvation. God knows that true joy and satisfaction is found in Him. There is no other substitute. Do not allow passivity to have its way or discouragement. Tap into God. Stay open to Him and become the follower that our world needs today. 

Duane