By Michael Tummillo Ephesians 5:1 commands us to be imitators of Christ. Jesus Himself stated many times that He came as an example and, over 30 times, the New Testament uses some tense of the phrase “follow me”, “follow Him” or “followers of Christ.” The word “followers” can be traced back to the Greek word “mimos” which means “to imitate.” From the word “mimos”, we can easily see from where the English words “mime” and “mimic” are derived. Scripture is loaded with examples revealing how and what one must do in order to be an imitator of Christ. Love your enemies. Forgive those who have sinned against you. Heal the sick. Cast out devils. Set captives free. Make disciples. Visit the imprisoned, the infirmed and feed the hungry. Things like that, right? So how’s all that coming along anyway? Is anyone actively training you in development of these gifts? With far too few exceptions, the institutional church as we know it is failing miserably on all accounts. Truth is, most churches are merely preaching halls that, when tested against the standard of Christ and the Doctrine HE taught, are found wanting. Church splits are commonplace. Ministers confess anonymously that they have major personal problems ranging from porn and alcohol addictions to miserable loneliness and discontentment. Surveys reveal a high level of distrust and disillusionment among the rank and file Believer. The strength of everything MUST be tested for Kingdom worthiness. How does the American Church fare in light of these tests? Nearly 3,800 close their doors annually after having ultimately failed. NOTE: Just because a congregation consists of thousands, the FRUIT of the INDIVIDUALS attending these gatherings must remain the ultimate litmus test. Are lives being changed? Are they doing what Jesus said they should do? Where’s the fruit? Where are the imitators of Christ? Who has time to make disciples when the typical minister or priest is kept busy running the spiritual corporation we refer to as “church” and the members are kept busy with every distraction under the sun, including maintaining the edifice? I once taught on Spiritual Warfare in a coffee bar to a crowd of around 40 college students. At one point, a pretty young lady seated on the couch in front timidly raised her hand and asked, “When was my pastor going to get around to teaching me this stuff?” I asked her to ask her pastor that question. Where disciples are concerned, we are too often making man in our own image; too often teaching them how to “be one of us” rather than imitators of Jesus. A new convert is typically given a Bible (if that much), told what to say and when (Christianese), taught the songs, and plugged into a class where they can learn some extra-biblical, even diabolical, and at the very least, manmade rules and regs that will help them to “fit in.” When they do, the assembly will give such a convert their stamp of approval and move on to another individual who will likely receive little more training than the last. And so on. Personally, I wish every new Believer would be set apart for three years in study of nothing but the words of Jesus. Nothing from Paul or James or Peter either. Just Jesus. With no contact from any other church people. I might even put them through a deliverance session or two for good measure. No exposure to doctrines or dogmas or traditions of man which make the Word of God of no effect, as Jesus said. Our tendency is to “parrot” the things we hear and see in church life. It’s called “systems management.” And it’s failing. The western Church has very little impact upon society. I recently heard sociologist and researcher George Barna on a CD reciting excerpts from his book “Revolution.” He stated that the two fastest growing modes of what he refers to as “mini-church” are house churches and online ministries, or “cyberchurches.” A woman quite piously said to me just this afternoon that people who partake in anything other than traditional services are simply unable to get anything out of church and are “quitters.” The poor thing failed to consider that, with so many numbers leaving organized Christianity as we know it, the problem could possibly be with the organization and NOT the many individuals. In the past two days, with no coaxing from me, after they learned I was a minister, I heard from an old, gray-bearded carpenter and a college age waiter that, though they considered themselves Christians, they despised the hypocrisy and soul-less repetition of Sunday morning religion. Another individual, a young mother with a drug problem who had just been released from jail after six months, told me she desires spiritual training but doesn’t feel accepted in church. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results. Week in and week out, vast multitudes of Westerners are playing church while Christianity thrives in third world countries and in places where the adherents face persecution. What we’re doing is simply failing. If we could save the nation with all our churches, TV, radio, music and, yes, email broadcasts, we would be making a greater impact that we are by now. Lord, send us revivalists from China or Sudan! HAVE YOU BEEN WITH JESUS? “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13). The Scribes and Pharisees were intelligent people. When they heard the apostles speak with boldness and conviction, they soon discovered the reason for this boldness. They knew it was not a result of their vast education or charisma, for Peter and John had no education except in the craft of fishing and seafaring. No, their boldness was not from the self-sufficiency of knowledge, but from the Spirit of the living God. The teachers of the law knew it. Charles Spurgeon wrote: “A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully and eloquently written, and you have admired the talent of the persons who could write so well; but the best life of Christ is his living biography, written out in the words and actions of his people. If we, my brethren, were what we profess to be; if the Spirit of the Lord were in the heart of all his children, as we could desire; and if, instead of having abundance of formal professors, we were all possessors of that vital grace, I will tell you not only what we ought to be, but what we should be: we should be pictures of Christ, yea, such striking likenesses of him that the world would not have to hold us up by the hour together, and say, “Well, it seems somewhat of a likeness;” but they would, when they once beheld us, exclaim, “He has been with Jesus; he has been taught of him; he is like him; he has caught the very idea of the holy Man of Nazareth, and he expands it out into his very life and every day actions…”" So, WHERE is it that we should be imitators of Christ? In the workplace. In the homeplace. In the schoolplace. In the locker room, the restaurant, everywhere. Live the life of Christ and make a public spectacle of the love affair you’re having with God! Why not? We buy a car or start a new love-relationship and we won’t shut up about it! When we imitate our Father, for Jesus said, “When they’ve seen Me they’ve seen the Father,” we can say, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.” It’s easy to “act Christlike” in the church services but how many of us are like Diotrephes, seeking positions of authority in the congregation, forgetting that ALL are equal and that we should attempt to outlove and out-serve one another? Let loose the Spirit of Christ in your fellowships, certainly. But most of all, take care to do so in your homes among your spouses and children and with all who enter there. Even on the phone and the computer. British Evangelist Rowland Hill (1744 -1833) once said, “I would not believe a man to be a true Christian if his wife, his children, the servants, and even the dog and cat, were not the better for it.” Let it be said about us all that we have practical religion; that our relationship with God is manifest as a supernatural expression of who we are. Take care of your character there, in private, so that it’s REAL when we go public. For what we are there, we really are. Far too many Christians are role-playing once they leave their home, slipping into some character – a mask of some sort. Even the pulpits are filled with people like this. IMITATORS, NOT PEW POTATERS. The ONLY thing that can possibly silence the critics of Christianity is for Christians to act like Christ. As was mentioned earlier, our church-going and Christian style entertainment isn’t getting it done. The word “Christian” itself MEANS “little Christs” or, “Jesus Juniors.” Of course, no one acted more like Christ than Christ Himself. Though He was crucified, He knew His crucifixion was forthcoming from the very start of His ministry. NEWSFLASH: a spiritual death must also occur in all who follow after Him. Many, however, have and will actually face physical death as well as a direct result of putting their faith in Him. WARNING: Count the cost before you TRULY decide to follow Jesus. In closing, this life is not “it” for us. We have a mission and will never find fulfillment as we pass through UNLESS we do as we were created to do while we’re here. Until then, every happiness we find will be fleeting. Every joyful moment will be short-lived. Let us all purpose in our hearts to be Imitators of Christ and make a difference while we’re able to do so. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Michael’s mission is to bring Discipleship and Encouragement to the Body of Christ. Since 1999, he has broadcast nearly six hundred inspirational articles and a dozen booklets on subjects that will interest the thinking Christian, all designed to accelerate the process of spiritual development in God’s people. He is the founder of t.e.a.m. ministries (team1min@aol.com). An Author, Pastoral Counselor and Teacher, his eMail broadcasts, known as “Your Town for Jesus” are reaching millions around the globe WEEKLY. Write team1min@aol.com if you’d like to SUBSCRIBE. A licensed/ordained minister, a Certified Workplace Chaplain, and a Professional Member of NIBIC, he has ministered in Methodist, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Baptist, Disciples of Christ, College and Cowboy churches. He is also a Speaker on the Christian Speaker Network and may be available to speak to your church or Christian group. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Tummillo http://EzineArticles.com/?WANTED:-Imitators-of-Christ&id=307358
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