Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. ~ 1 Cor 11:1
Paul starts off with this famous phrase in this chapter and seems to jumped off onto a tangent in the rest of this chapter where he discusses:
about the head coverings of a woman before God; and
how should one conduct themselves during the Holy Communion; and
how the Holy Communion was set up; and
the need to examine in the partaking of the Holy Communion.
If anyone has a good explanation for this, I would like to know. But I want to focus on the 1st verse where Paul calls for us to imitate him as he imitated Christ.
In Ephesians 5:1-2, Paul follows the same train of thought by elaborating:
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.
Children are the most adept at being imitators. They will observe what their parents say and do and follow. In the KJV version of these verses, it uses the phrase “be followers of Christ”. There are many other passages in the Bible that speaks of this. Here are some of them:
11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. ~ 3 John verse 11
21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ~ 2 Peter 2:21
9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. ~ Phil 4:9
12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. ~ Heb 6:12
I am sure in reading all these verses, you would form an idea what it means to be an imitator or follower of Christ.
We cannot imitate someone if we do not know anything about him.
So we need to put in the effort to learn all we can about Jesus Christ. And how do we do it?
Through His word that we read each day.
Not only this, we must put into practice everything that we learn from Him. We should do what He does, stay away from what He avoids. Basically, if we can do it, we would be perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48).
But the reality it is easier said than done because we cannot imitate God through our own power.
That is where the power of Holy Spirit comes in so that we can walk like Him in our lives.
Perhaps I now see a link between verse 1 of this chapter and the rest of the chapter from verse 17 onwards where Paul speaks of the Holy Communion.
When we are imitators of Christ, we would know how to conduct ourselves during the Holy Communion and not have divisions and factions like the Corinthians. Though we partake of the Holy Communion nowadays in an orderly fashion where everyone eats and drinks together, are our hearts divided? Do we have misgivings against another in church?
That is why we need to examine ourselves and partake in a worthy manner.
And how do we know all this? It is because when we truly follow the Lord Jesus, we will know what He did for us. We will know His words and commandments.
And we will remember them and do it.
Imitate Paul as he imitated Christ. That is the call for us today.
