Imitating Christ Together
At the summer conference, the food was passable and the bunk beds were hard. But whether the staff were stacking chairs or playing basketball, I'd never seen people this different from each other enjoy being together so much. I wanted to be like them, so I decided to join them. For the next ten years, I worked as a full-time campus minister.
Proverbs 13:20, 14:7, 27:17; Luke 6:39-40
Whoever walks with the wise grows wise, but a friend of fools suffers harm (Proverbs 13:20). Avoid fools; you gain no knowledge from their talk (Proverbs 14:7). Iron sharpens iron, and friends sharpen one another (Proverbs 27:17). He told them a parable: "Can a blind man guide another blind man? Won't they both fall into a hole? No disciple surpasses their teacher. But once the disciple is fully trained, they will be like their teacher" (Luke 6:39-40).
Sancho Panza said it in Don Quixote: "Tell me your company, and I will tell you what you are." The motivational speaker Jim Rohn claims, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." Everyone knows that our friends affect our lives, and that we'll become like the people who influence us. But if we think of friends as a way to help us become healthy, wealthy, and happy, what have we done? It's just another form of using people to get ahead in life. "Common sense" sometimes tells us the truth in a way that leads us to become foolish. We must be careful about who gives us advice, because we can hurt ourselves if we get too close to the wrong people. Just because someone is talking in an authoritative way doesn't mean they're giving us an education. In the book of Proverbs, the secret to wisdom is the fear of the Lord, which means rightly honoring God. So a "fool" isn't a young person making mistakes, but someone who has stubbornly decided to go their own way. The emphasis is humbly placing ourselves under God's authority. If we walk around with people who are spiritually blind, we'll fall into a hole with them. But if we seek out mentors and friends who know who God is and care about God's ways, then we'll grow. The first step is to find the wise teacher. Of course, that's Jesus. Discipleship is imitating Christ together. It's good when more experienced followers of Jesus mentor newer believers, but we keep in mind that we're all disciples. None of us will surpass Jesus. It isn't about elevating some people above others, but about all of us sharpening each other so that we can be more like Jesus. As I worked with these campus ministers, some of them taught me how to study the Bible. Others showed me how to care for the poor. I made it a habit to bring the best of their lives into my own. But I still went off on my own ways. For instance, when I lived in Boston, I did an extended study of discipleship that led me to set up dozens of one-on-one meetings with students. I brought an individualistic mindset to the Bible and brought out of it an approach to helping others that missed the critical role of community that others tried to teach me. Now I see that Jesus picked twelve disciples on purpose. He showed them what to do as they ministered with him among crowds of people. He even organized them into three small groups of four (it appears that Simon Peter, Philip, and James son of Alphaeus led these groups). Even as we follow, our confidence rests on Jesus starting and finishing this work in us. He's the one who trains us. But even when we know God's wisdom, it's still hard to find friends who want to follow Jesus. The first problem is my own: how much do I want to follow Jesus, and what changes will I make to my life so that I am following him? The second problem is relational: who do I know who has decided to follow Jesus, and is taking it seriously? It's far easier to find people who want to have a good time or professionally network. So we ask God to train us to be like him, and to connect us to a few people in a local church who want to follow Jesus with us.
How can someone say 'imitate me' without being arrogant?
How did Jesus train his disciples?
If a friend tried to help you follow Jesus, what would make it hard for you to let them?
Encourage one friend by telling them a specific way they've helped you be like Jesus.