Who is watching you?

They say that, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” but did you know that it is also an integral part of discipleship? Jesus Himself said that He only did what He saw the Father doing... and He urged His disciples to imitiate Him - in the way they lived and the way they loved.

Some years later, the apostle Paul said the same thing to those He was discipling: “Imitate me as I imitate Christ,” or “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.”  1st Corinthians 11 verse 1.   Paul lived with such moral and spiritual integrity that he had no qualms about urging others to copy his example. Part of being a discipler is being a good role model.

Last week, at the end of the LDC, the delegates made up a funny song (to the tune of the “Twelve Days of Christmas”) about all the staff members. For the fifth day of the song, they used a phrase that one of my young mentorees in Africa had confessed to asking herself when facing challenging situations in leading an outreach team: “What would Barbara say?” As a joke, one of the LDC delegates had made me a woven bracelet with the letters WWBS. Although we all laughed about it, it’s actually a humbling thing to realise that someone else is following the example of what you would do or say.

Whether we’re leaders or brand new Christians, we can be sure that someone is watching us. Are we worthy of imitation in what we do and say? Are we imitating Jesus, so that others can imitate us?  And it’s not only about how we look on the outside; it begins with how we think in the secret of our hearts. Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to disciple and purify our innermost thoughts, so that our outward speech and behaviour will be an example of imitating Jesus?