The Call to be Imitators
May 05, 2019      |     By: Jonathan Brickley      |      Category: Sermons      |      Location: El Dorado
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“Imitate" - to follow as a pattern, model or example; to be or appear like; to produce a copy of.
Not mimic actions - but adopt a way of life.

Why this challenge to follow (like a sheep)?
- Adam nature independent
- Longs for autonomy & self-promotion/individual expression
- Humility to submit like a child

WHY Imitation?
- Gets us out of a spiritual Rut (mindset change - S&D Plumbing)
- As Simple as it gets
- God did not compare us to raccoons for a reason
- What got us here won’t get us there
- Living the “Spirit Led Life” only works if you’re spiritually minded
- I don’t expect my 3 year old to follow the Spirit’s leading while in the kitchen
- I expect her to obey my word and trust me - her discernment grows with time

Requirements:
- Childlike Faith
- Losing your life
- Embracing Suffering
- Doing the Hard Work of Obedience

Whom do you imitate?
- Depends on who you spend time reading about, watching, idolizing - you’ll act like, become like them

Imitation
1. As Sons & Fathers / Families together
     1 Corinthians 4:16, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Philippians 3:17
2. In Suffering - which makes models out of imitators
     1 Thessalonians 1:6-7, 1 Thessalonian 2:14
3. In Hard Work - naturally & Spiritually
     2 Thessalonians 3:7-9, Hebrews 6:12
4. Rules for Followers, Rules for Leaders
      Hebrews 13:7, 1 Peter 5:2-3

1 Corinthians 4:15-17
15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

- Paul's URGE for imitation - followed by the sending of a son - why?
- Because Timothy had adopted Paul’s way of life - and would “remind them of Paul’s way of life”. Children imitate their parents’ life.

Hebrews 1:3
3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being

Jesus showed us the invisible Father. The son imitated the Father.

1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)
11 Be imitators of me (follow my example), as I am of Christ.

- “Imitate me ONLY as far as I imitate Christ!”
- to the extent they imitate Christ
- He is the only One worth becoming like

Philippians 3:17
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.

- Imitation is not meant to be a single player sport
- “Join Together” - to help each other “keep your eyes on those” who live rightly

1 Thessalonians 1:6-7
6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.
7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

- Those who welcome the gospel message with JOY even IN THE MIDST of severe suffering are Imitators of Apostles AND of the Lord Jesus
- These people (these Imitators) become Models / examples to other believers
- What we do with suffering is the hinge that Discipleship & multiplication swings on
- In the midst of “severe suffering” Imitators BECOME Models

An imitator is following someone else’s lead, who is following Christ’s (GOOD!)
A MODEL is a “Standard, or Example FOR Imitation”
Models are ALWAYS imitators, but Imitators are not always models
False Humility gets broken here (no more “Pride borrowing humility’s clothes”)

1 Thessalonians 2:14
14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews

Churches (groups of believers) imitate other churches (groups of people) by suffering similar kinds of persecution
Endurance thru persecution makes you an imitator of those who have endured the same.

2 Thessalonians 3:7-9
7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate.

Imitation is hard work!  And God values hard work
Those who work hard in the natural realm serve as models to imitate

Hebrews 6:12
12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

“Keeping our eyes on those who live as we do” Philippians 3:17 is a way to prevent spiritual slothfulness
Those who work hard in the Spiritual realm serve as models to imitate

Two Options
1. Spiritually Lazy   OR  
2. Walk by Faith and Patience to insert what has been promised (The LAND!)

Hebrews 13:7
7 Remember your leaders (Them which have the rule over you), who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.

Rules for the flock (Role Based vs Voluntary Relationships)
Follow the pattern/Example set before you
Remember (Leaders who spoke Gods’ Word)
Consider (The result, the outcome, the fruit of their way of life)
Imitate (Their faith in God - their conviction of His existence - their reliance on and trust in Him)

1 Peter 5:2-3
2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing
dishonest gain, but eager to serve;
3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

Rules for the Shepherds / Leaders
Set the pattern/example of Integrity for the Flock
Give them Something to imitate - CHRIST!