Made to Mimic

Parenthood has been quite the eye opener for me in the last decade plus that I have been a daddy. There are a slew of things that I simply did not know I could do prior to parenthood. Until having kids of my own I had no idea how to change diapers, soothe a fussy baby or how to even relate to a child. Praise God I was a quick study and have grown as a daddy by leaps and bounds.

The thing that really blows my mind about both of my kids was their ability to watch, learn and repeat almost any given tasks that my wife and I did. They learned all the foundational life skills that they needed to grow in: talking, walking, eating, writing and so on. What I did not expect was for my kids to grab onto how their armless daddy did things and they would repeat the action with ease.

Both of my kids can eat with their feet with ease, not because I specifically took time to teach them, but they learned the ins and outs of it because they spent every meal with their daddy. To them, they saw the way to achieve the task at hand and were able mimic their daddy perfectly – not because they had to. They wanted to and made a quick study of it. 

We Learn as We Watch

I truly believe that is a glimpse into our growth into maturity both in the physical and spiritual. We can learn quite a bit just by reading or listening, but the best teacher is patterning our behavior after someone else. The Christian needs good teaching and preaching in their life but they also need a solid role model to learn what it practically looks like to be a disciple of Jesus.

Jesus’ invitation for his disciples was both a very simple but very specific command, “Follow me.” (Matt 4:19, 9:9) Jesus did not stop at having His disciples hear clear, Father-focused teaching. He wanted them to grasp great teaching for sure but Jesus also wanted the 12 to see clearly what it meant to shepherd and lead away from the crowds by having an up close view of His life.

He wanted them to know the ins and outs of what following Him looked like in everyday life. For the 12 to follow Jesus on a daily basis meant they had the chance to observe how Jesus loved the unlovable, how He rested, how He prayed, how He grieved, how He challenged the self-righteous, how He suffered and so many more life lessons. Jesus wanted His disciples to see how He lived His life away from the gathering so they could apply the same truths to their lives.

That’s the value of discipleship in our day. Having biblically grounded, gospel-centered preaching is vital for the believer but it is not the end all when it comes to our life as a Christian. We need to see what life away from church and the gathering of believers looks like so that we can grasp the breadth of the Christian life. It was never meant to be confined to padded chairs in a worship center. The Christian life is designed to be lived as lights among darkness and we learn how to live as that shining light by watching others live out that way of life before our eyes.

Discipleship is a Long Haul

Viewing, processing and digesting that pattern of living isn’t exactly something that is done quickly. The inclination of the heart of man is towards wickedness as Romans 3:10b-12, ““None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” For those of us in Christ, we are putting that old way of life to death by the power of the Spirit (Rom 8:13) but that is something that takes time.

Growing in Christlikeness takes time as well. Many Bible scholars estimate that Jesus and the disciples were together for 3 or 4 years. It took the Savior of the world around 3 years to see His disciples get to the point where He could leave them and send them out to the ends of the Earth.

You and I won’t be full fledged disciples after the span of some 10 week course that we go through at our church. Discipleship is a process that builds over the long haul, so do not be discouraged that you are not an all star Christian two months into your relationship with Jesus. Discipleship is something that ignores a stopwatch to determine success, it only looks at getting to the finish line. 

To grow in our relationship with Christ, we need those we can look to for guidance and mentoring. Paul’s plea to the Philippian church was much the same. He says in Philippians 3:17, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” Paul’s challenge was not only to imitate him as he imitates Jesus (1 Cor 11:1) but to also look to those who are doing much the same.

We are creatures who are made for relationship so that we may be loved and extend love. We are made to relate so that we will also grow as people and in our likeness to Christ. We will never grow alone, but as we look to those that the Lord has surrounded us with we will not lack opportunities to know more about Jesus and to share about Jesus to those willing to see and grow.