The Role Imitation Plays in our Faith

This is an excerpt from HomeLife Magazine

My son needed a new pair of shoes recently. He’s 8 years old, which means it feels like we buy new shoes about every three days. He has three older sisters, who were all equally rambunctious when they were his age, and I promise you their shoes all lasted longer than his. We were looking online, and we happened to browse past the same kind of running shoes I was wearing. “Oh, Dad! I want those,” he said. “I want the same shoes as you.”

We’re in that stage, one that I know to appreciate while it lasts, where my son imitates me. If you’ve raised more than one child, you know that it’s common for children to go through a season where they want to look and act just like mom or dad. Sometimes this is intentional. Other times they can’t really help it. My daughters and I were walking behind my wife and son on a recent hike, and we all started laughing. My wife and son have the same walk; they both kind of pull their shoulders back and exaggerate their arm swing. My son was imitating my wife without even trying.

Have you ever considered the role imitation plays in our faith? Believe it or not, imitation is an important concept in the New Testament when it comes to maturing as Christians.

The apostle Paul had a firm grasp on the importance of imitation. In Ephesians 5:1-2, Paul gives a general call for all Christ-followers to imitate God: “Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.” Here, Paul provides a succinct definition for discipleship, especially in relation to our status as children adopted into God’s family. But Paul goes even deeper with this concept elsewhere in Scripture.

In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul says, “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” In 1 Corinthians 4:16, he says, “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” And in 1 Thessalonians 1:6a, he says, “And you yourselves became imitators of us and of the Lord.”

Don’t miss what Paul is saying here. He is talking to Christ-followers who are young in their faith and saying to them, if you want to know what it means to be a Christian, look at me and then do what I do.

Here’s a question for you: If someone who didn’t have a saving relationship with Jesus imitated your faith, how sound would his or her faith be? If someone young in his faith copied your faith, what would his faith look like? Let’s go a step further: If your children modeled the faith they see you live, what kind of faith would they have? I don’t know about you, but these questions stop me in my tracks.

Many of us are obediently modeling godliness for others. While there is always room for growth, many Christians live in such a way that their peers and especially their children look to them and see a vibrant, solid faith. But there are others for whom this question would be a God-sized burden of conviction.

Part of growing as Christ-followers is looking to those around us who are living out a healthy faith and seeking to imitate their postures and practices. But we can never forget that we’re models for others. Very few of us are “influence neutral.” We all have people we influence. Some of us have a lot of influence; others have a relatively small amount. But all of us have someone who is watching. What we do with this influence is critical.

I will never get tired of my son imitating how I talk, dress, or walk. But I’m aware that there are other things he’s picking up, things of far weightier consequence.