What Would Jesus Do?

In our digital world today, the power of influence is seemingly becoming more difficult to resist.

For example, social media has developed such a presence over the last two of decades that some of us may have been tempted – consciously or subconsciously – to imitate what we believe to be good and right based on the information we are presented with.

Christians are not an exception to this reality.

“If [insert Pastor here] said this, it must be true”

“If [insert Christian influencer here] does it, then it must be okay”

We may easily be deceived by individuals who have scriptures in their bio, yet openly walk (and post content) in a manner that is in direct opposition to the ways of Christ.

The problem is not so much the individuals, but the Christian’s naivety by being influenced by sinful behaviour, deceived by a declaration of faith in one’s bio or verbal confession.

I say these things not to pronounce judgment on such individuals, but to provide a word of caution to be mindful of the people and patterns we may mindlessly imitate.

Even amongst content shared by genuine believers, it is so easy to be oversaturated by various doctrines, interpretations and opinions which may lead to confusion.

Ironically, here I am writing a blog post, hoping to infuse “Godly” influence to those who read this.

In an attempt to avoid further confusion, let’s direct our attention to the authority of scripture which provides clarity regarding who we should be imitating.

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”

1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV

To imitate simply means to follow someone (or something) as an example.

In this verse, Paul was confident to implore the church in Corinth to follow his example.

To be “influenced” by him.

However, his motivation was not his own self-righteous reputation – which according to Philippians 3:4-8, he had plenty of.

Rather, Paul pointed to the only man worthy of being imitated, Jesus Christ Himself.

He was purposefully saying that Jesus is the only one worth imitating. Their desire to follow Paul should have been driven by their desire to look like Jesus.

This leads  to two crucial conclusions:

1. Let Jesus be your biggest influence

As cliche as it may sound, we really do need to ask ourselves:

“What would Jesus do?”

…because truthfully, there is no better question.

Given the situation I am in, how best can I follow Christ’s example? 

It should be noted that up until Acts 11:26, “Christians” were simply known as disciples of Jesus, which quite literally means to be His follower. The very nature of our calling is to follow Him and make more followers of Him (Matthew 28:19-20)

Are we still following Him today?

Do you seek the example of others before the example of the Lord?

Do you desire to be Christ-like over your desire to be relevant ?

The saying goes “Imitation is the highest form of flattery”

In my opinion, I believe “imitation is the highest form of worship” because it expresses the heart’s adoration and desire to be transformed to its idol. 

Our pursuit (or lack of) to be Christlike speaks of our desire to know Him, have Him as our treasure and to be like Him.

Rather than trusting every reddit post or quick answers we can find from an online community with a host of answers, let’s learn to look to Jesus Christ and His teachings throughout scripture to learn how we ought to imitate Him in every situation.

Ask questions like…

How can I show mercy in this situation? [Luke 6:32-36]

How can I love like Jesus in this moment? [John 13:34]

How do I view others more importantly than myself in this situation? [Philippians 2:3]

More importantly, pray for the strength to walk in His foot steps, because apart from Christ we can do nothing fruitful (John 15:8)

2. Become Someone Worth Imitating

 

Whether you like it or not, someone is watching you.

They might be younger, older, new in the faith or even mature in the faith.

Irrespective of the situation, I believe that every single person on earth has at least one admirer whether in secret or public.

With that being said, is your life worthy of imitation?

Can we confidently proclaim as Paul did to “imitate me as I imitate Christ?”

Jesus exemplified perfect humility by literally denying His Godly form, coming into the earth as a baby and dying for our sins [Philippians 2:5-8]. The ultimate act of selflessness.

In 1 Corinthians 10:23-33, the verses preceding (1 Cor 11:1), Paul goes into great depth regarding what a life of Christ imitation should like; a life full of selflessness and God glorifying works. Paul did not seek out for his own advantage, but rather thought for the benefit of others in hopes that they might be saved.

 Although he was not perfect, Paul served as an example for others to follow so that they themselves would genuinely look like followers of Christ.

Our motive here is NOT to become popular/ people of great importance

Our motive here is NOT for people to perceive us as holier than though

Our motive here is for others to become followers of Jesus, as we follow Him, because in Him we have the fullness of life.

When people look at our lives, our hope is that they say things like this to themselves:

“This guy is a Jesus Freek”

“ I don’t know why she is so keen on following Jesus”

“Why do they care so much about the Jesus way of doing things?

Our lives should be a banner to the world that proclaims the majesty of our Lord through our speech, thought process and our actions.