Famous people are often in the spotlight, giving the world something to imitate. The onlookers take notes and try to duplicate a certain packaged image: the hair, the make-up, the tops, the jeans, the shoes, you-name-it.
We think of this behavior linked to only celebrities, but many ordinary people have their styles imitated by close friends, family, peers, or colleagues. In fact, if one would search this topic on the internet, we would find numerous blogs of annoyed individuals complaining of someone who stole their "look."
Perhaps we can relate. Maybe we took someone's look and made it our own, or visa versa, maybe someone decided to show up to an event looking exactly like you. It can be flattering having someone change their entire look to one that is more like yours, but it seems to make many irritated.
"Don't worry about it," some people write back, adding that, "imitation is the simplest form of flattery. If they took your look, you should be proud."
Our physical individualism is so valuable to us - because it is who we are identified as - that when someone tries to take it and make it their own, we feel threatened, almost as if that person has stolen a part of our person and taken credit for it.
As Christians, we must not, however, possess an individual Christianity that only belongs to us. Our inner being, our Christlikeness, should be a bigger reflection of who we are in the world than our physical attributes or style. It is what should make us different from the pot that is melting together in a hot stew of moral relativism, and we must never feel threatened by another person who wants to be the same. This identity, we share with other Christians. We are clothed with the same garment that Christ has clothed us with.
Everyone has a signature look; mine has mostly been long, wavy hair, moussed up with bangs pinned at the front; feminine tops; a cozy black cardigan; cool flared jeans, and heels.
But my image in Christ is like many others and is easier to part from than the every day wardrobe I own. My image in Christ is not my own. In fact, I am an ambassador to Christ. I represent Him. He owns my heart, mind, soul - my all.
I might feel a bit awkward sitting next to a person who is dressed head to toe like me, but if that same person began to follow Christ because of my example, I would be so humbled and grateful to God. People have come and gone, asked me, "Where did you get your blouse?" or "What kind of mousse do you use on your hair?" but those questions pale in comparison to the quest for Christ, "How do I change my life?" "How did you do it?" "When did God change you?" "Can you pray for me to change?"
God is so wonderful because even in our imperfection, He reflects His image upon our lives. If this makes others desire what we have, that is good because we live in a way where we do not desire what the Jonses have; rather, we desire what they do not have - Christ.
Paul says in Hebrews 6:12 "imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." and in Hebrews 13:7-8 he "Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
So to this I say, imitate away! Paul was confident enough in his faith to tell others to imitate him, which not only displays his confidence but his faithfulness to the Lord. And what should this teach us who are being watched? We must always remember that others are diligently watching, either for us to fall or to show what a real Christian looks like. This is our beauty, not in what we look like outwardly, but in the heart, that frames our faces with the light of God.
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
So to this I say, imitate away! Paul was confident enough in his faith to tell others to imitate him, which not only displays his confidence but his faithfulness to the Lord. And what should this teach us who are being watched? We must always remember that others are diligently watching, either for us to fall or to show what a real Christian looks like. This is our beauty, not in what we look like outwardly, but in the heart, that frames our faces with the light of God.
Isaiah 53
1Who has believed what he has heard from us?And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
How beautiful is this Savior, who although he lacked the outer beauty that we consider so important, he overflowed in inner beauty, bearing our grief, carrying our sorrows, and hanging on a cross, a sacrifice that brought us everlasting peace. His humility and gentleness should be continuously imitated by His children in order to have the world imitate them; the flattery and all the glory, we'll leave that for the Lord.
