Monkey See Monkey Do
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1
We had a parakeet named Iggy when we were growing up and my
brother tried to teach it to talk. Unfortunately Iggy was not interested. His
cage was in the kitchen to start with and when someone pushed the buttons on
the microwave he would start chirping along in perfect pitch and rhythm. Mother
got tired of his comments and moved his cage to the front door. When the
doorbell rang the dogs would run to the door and bark. One night we were
settling in for the night and heard soft barking. Dad decided that the dogs had
gotten out and declared DEFCON 1. We set out on a search party for the dogs,
only to find all of them accounted for. Going past the front door we realized it
was Iggy who had learned to bark. From that day on he was referred to as either
the watch bird or the bird dog.
Who do you imitate and why? Children imitate their parents,
usually by doing things they shouldn’t and often without realizing it. I
started wondering at some point why I chew on my pens and pencils until I saw
my dad doing it. Much more destructively I also imitated his habit of refusing
to use 3 little words. “I NEED HELP.” My younger son had it right, I think. The
only person I know who learns from other’s mistakes, he said, “I want to be
just like brother, except I ‘m not going to do this and I’m definitely not
going to do that cuz that was stupid.”
Ephesians 5:1 says that we should “Be imitators of God as
beloved children. That is a great idea, but I can’t get my head around it. Even
things like be holy even as your father in heaven is holy are not that helpful.
(Matthew 5:48) Fortunately God understands. It is one reason that he sent
Jesus. This is how Paul explains it to Timothy.
1 Timothy 1:16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so
that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense
patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal
life.
Imitating Jesus is easier because he was flesh and blood,
but it is easy to say yes but I am not like Jesus. Paul has an answer to that,
too. He told the Corinthians, Be imitators of me as I am an imitator of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1.He goes on to list specific ways we can do that.
We need to try to be imitators of God, but if we can find a
human example to follow, it is even better. Look for someone a little ahead of
you in their faith walk and learn from them.
At the same time keep an eye out for people following you.
