THE IMITATION OF PAUL
As a teenager, I became an
impersonator. I used to imitate some of my favorite movie actors. I would dance
like them, deliver dialogues as they did. My friends and family used to enjoy
my impersonation. After I got saved in the 1980’, I was inspired by observing
two people. One was the Evangelist who led me to Christ, and the other was who mentored me in my
mission’s life. I used to imitate their mannerism, style of preaching,
including the tone of their voice. Above all, I tried to imitate their faith,
holy living, and passion for the Lord and the lost.
We have an innate need to imitate; Alva
Noë, a philosopher at the University of California, notes, “For the last 30
years, or so, this innateness hypothesis has been widely accepted. On the
strength of experimental evidence supposedly showing that neonates reliably
mimic facial gestures (such as sticking out the tongue).”[1]
Imitation is not necessarily a bad
thing. What matters is what or who we imitate. From all over the world,
teenagers imitate certain clothing styles, for example, “Ripped Jeans.” The
desire to wear such clothing often stems from a more profound need to be loved,
accepted, and belong.
Who or what should
we Imitate as Christians? The writer of “The Imitation Of Christ,” Thomas A
Kemps, has this to say, “Consider the glowing examples of the holy Fathers, in
whom shone true religion and perfection; compared with them we do little or
nothing.
Alas, how can our life be compared
with theirs! The Saints and friends of Christ served Our Lord in hunger and
thirst, in cold and nakedness, in toil and weariness: in watching and fasting,
in prayer and meditation in persecutions and insults without number.”[2] In the passage from today’s
reading, we will meet a saint who boldly challenged the first century
Christians to imitate him. The BIG idea of this passage is: “The Imitation
of Paul.” I Cor 4:14-21
Vs. 14-16, “I am not writing these
things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. For even if you
had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual
father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News
to you. So I urge you to imitate me.” Paul asserted himself as a spiritual
father to the Corinthians.
What gave him that right to become a
spiritual father? Because He preached the Good News to the Corinthians. The
intention of writing was not to shame but to warn them. He urged his spiritual
children to imitate him by sending his beloved spiritual son Timothy to remind
them.
For weeks we have been learning
about what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church in Corinth. It would be helpful
to know a bit about the author. What kind of a man was Paul, his family
background, where he went to school as a teenager, who changed his course of
direction in life, what struggles he endured during his ministry, etc. I will
be sharing a few insights into Paul’s life from the Book “Paul, A Biography”
written by N.T. Wright.
I.
ZEAL AND CONVERSION
We don’t know much about Saul’s
family and his early childhood by reading the Bible. He enters the scene in
Acts seven as a zealous young witness of the murder of Stephen. Later we read
that he came from Tarsus. What do we know about the city of Tarsus?
It was a noble city in Cilicia, ten
miles inland on the river Cydnus in the southeast corner of modern Turkey, was
on the major east-west trade routes. It could trace its history back two
thousand years. It was a city of culture, politics, philosophy, and industry.
Among those industries was a
thriving textile business producing material made from goat hair to make
shelters. This may well have been the basis of the family business, tentmaking
in which Saul had been apprenticed and continued to practice.[3]
Saul grew up in a family who saw
Judaism as the active propagation of the traditional way of life, defending it
against external attacks and internal corruption, and urging the traditions of
the Torah upon other Jews, especially when they seemed to be compromising.[4]
Saul may have been a little younger
than Jesus of Nazareth. As for family, we find later that he has a sister and a
nephew living in Jerusalem. Most likely, in his teen years went to Jerusalem
and studied under the guidance of Gamaliel, one of the greatest Rabbis of that
time.
There were two prominent schools of
thought among the Jews at that time. One was Hillel’s, which advocated the
policy of “Live and let live.” Gamaliel was the grandson of Hillel[5] the elder hence subscribed
to such a view as we see his position in Acts 5:27-42.
Another way was Shammai’s thought,
which advocated, “God was going to establish his reign on earth as in heaven,
then those who were zealous for God and Torah would have to say their prayers,
sharpen their swords, and get ready for action.
Action against the wicked pagans, renegade or compromising Jews.” Saul
subscribed to Shammai’s way of thinking, hence the zeal.
Saul was on his way to Damascus with
Torah in his head, zeal in his heart, and official documents from the chief
priests in his bag to arrest and imprison the followers of the way (followers
of Christ). He wanted to bring both men and women followers back to Jerusalem
in chains. Little did he realize that he was going to be captivated by the love
of Jesus.
On the Road of Damascus, everything
was changed. “A light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to
the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you
persecuting me? Who are you, Lord Saul
asked? And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Now get
up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” After that divine
encounter, Saul became a passionate follower of Christ himself.
II.
PAUL’S HARDSHIPS IN MINISTRY
Saul was blind for three days. God
sent Ananias to Saul, saying, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my
message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. And I
will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.” Acts 9:15-16
Ananias prayed for him. Saul was
healed, was Baptized, and filled with the Holy Spirit. He immediately began to
preach about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God.”
Jesus, as promised, put Paul through much suffering for His name’s sake.
During his lifetime, Paul went on
four missionary journeys and wrote 13 letters. Here is a Map that gives you the
timeline, where to find it in the book of Acts, and the books he wrote on his
journey. While imprisoned in Ephesus for
three years, Paul wrote First and Second Letters to Corinthians and Romans
during his third missionary journey.
In his second letter to the
Corinthians, while taking on the false prophets, Paul lays out the hardships he
endured during his missionary travels. 2 Cor 11:24-28, “Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me
thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was
stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day
adrift at sea.
I have traveled on many long
journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger
from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger
in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas.
And I have faced danger from men who
claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many
sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without
food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. Then,
besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches.”
2 Cor 11:24-28
None
of us endured hardships like Paul, so he had the authority to challenge us to
Imitate him.
III.
THE IMITATION OF PAUL
Vs. 16, “So I urge you to imitate
me.” The question we are to ask is what did Paul mean when he said, Imitate me?
How can we possibly imitate Paul? The
phrase to imitate someone means to take or follow them as a model. Paul was
urging his spiritual children to take and follow him as a model as a spiritual
father. This call was to follow his faith, zeal, and obedience.
We should follow in Paul’s footsteps
as he followed in the footsteps of Jesus. How? As the way, Paul focused on
Jesus, the crucified Messiah. As he depended on God and endured hardship for
the sake of Christ, we Christians are to follow him as he followed Christ. I
Cor 11:1
What does following Christ and Paul mean for
us today? It means to give up our pride, empty ourselves, and love people as
God has loved us. It means to humble ourselves and serve the hurting and the
broken. It means not to accumulate wealth and riches. It means being content.
Jesus summed up what it means for us
to follow Him. Matthew 14:24-26, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of
you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross,
and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you
give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” Are we ready to follow Christ
that way?
In more intense terms, the Apostle
Paul explained what it means for him to follow Christ while writing to
Philippians 3:8, “Yes, everything else is worthless compared to the infinite
value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have discarded
everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” When
we want to imitate Paul as he imitated Christ, we are called for a self-denial
lifestyle, giving up everything, including our very lives. Amen!
