The Transparent Life
Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 NASB
Imitators – Sometimes the perfect copy is as good as the original. This Greek word, mimetes, means, “to mimic,” but not in a bad way. It has the sense of being an exact copy of the original, the kind of copy that reflects all the craftsmanship and beauty of the source. When you put the two side by side, you can’t tell the difference. Especially if the producer of the original is also the producer of the copy. Paul’s exhortation includes the work of the Spirit, the same Spirit that produces godly actions in every copy of the original.
Have you ever considered what an incredible claim Paul is making in this verse? He is really saying, “Since you can’t see the Messiah any more, look at me. My life is a copy of His life. So, copy me and you will be like Him.” How many of us can truthfully say to others, “If you want to see who Yeshua is, look at me”? Imagine someone observing every action you make. Would that person see Yeshua through your choices and behaviors? Would you be the transparent covering of His hands and feet?
This concept is not a fluke. If you look at the other times this word is used in the New Testament, you will find that imitating is an important instruction tool. Believers are told to imitate apostles, God and other faithful followers. Imitation moves us toward godly behavior. Elders are supposed to be so Christ-like that their lives are worthy of imitation. And ultimately Torah obedience is simply imitation; doing what God Himself would do.
But there is an opposite form of imitation, and Paul takes pains to warn us about it. “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world,” he says in his letter to the Romans. Did you notice that we are to imitate godly actions but we are not to conform to ungodly ones? Conforming implies changing a pre-existing pattern into some other pattern. Imitate means only to repeat what is presented. In order to conform to the world, I will have to reshape the image God gave me at birth into an image that is separated from Him. But when I am born from above, all I have to do is copy what I see of the actions and attitudes of the Anointed One. Which one do you think takes more effort?
Years ago I saw an advertisement on television about a father and a son. Everything the father did, the little boy imitated. After a few pictures of work and play, the father sat down under a tree and lit a cigarette. The ad campaign was clear. Like father, like son. We who are believers are also to be like our Father in order that others may imitate us. That puts a whole new view on how you live. Many are watching, sometimes without our awareness of their observation. Be a perfect copy!
Topical Index: imitator, mimetes, mimic, conform, 1 Corinthians 11:1
Very convicting!
I like the difference between “imitating” and “conforming.”
It is a good way to check my thoughts and actions: am I imitating
God or conforming to the world?
Basic, true, enlightened,encouraged all in one little note from you Skip.
I could follow this easily and know that WITH the HOLY GHOST within.. I am enabled to die and LET GOD work in me as HE promised.
I am a debtor..
One of the most famous books of literary theory in the 20th century is called Mimesis
Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, by Erich Auerbach
Plato contrasted mimesis, or imitation, with diegesis, or narrative
After Plato, the meaning of mimesis eventually shifted toward a specifically literary function
An idea that governed the creation of works of art
And. in particular, with a correspondence to the physical world
Understood as a model for beauty, truth, and the good
Auerbach’s mimesis is understood as a form of “Realism” in the Arts
It was published in 1946 and written while the author was in exile from Nazi Germany
The book opens with a famous comparison between the way the world is represented
In Homer’s Odyssey and the way it appears in the Bible
From these two seminal Western texts, Auerbach builds the foundation for a unified theory
Of “representation” that spans the entire history of Western literature
Including the Modernist novels being written at the time Auerbach began his study
The Frankfurt school critical theorist T. W. Adorno made use of “mimesis”
As a central philosophical term
Interpreting it as a way in which works of art embodied a form of reason
That was non-repressive and non-violent
The written portion of my doctoral exams were focused on the Frankfurt school and Bertolt Brecht
On the contrasting theories of how fiction “reflects” or “produces” historical reality
Walter Benjamin wrote a book called Illuminations
An early influence was his friend Gershom Scholem
Founder of the academic study of the Kabbalah and of Jewish mysticism
Benjamin’s turn to Marxism in the 1930s was partly due to the influence of Bertolt Brecht
Whose critical aesthetics developed “epic theatre” and its Verfremdungseffekt
(defamiliarisation, alienation)
In my first undergraduate class in literature at UCSD, I took a course in English drama
It was taught by a visiting Professor from England
One of the texts was called The Caucasian Chalk Circle, based on the story of King Solomon
But applied to the concept of private property in Russia
I didn’t know who King Solomon was at that time, but I was very moved by his wisdom
And I became very attracted Brecht’s Marxism as consequence
Unfortunately (maybe), I was not smart enough to figure out the source of all this stuff on my own
So I left “University Life” and went out into what my father always called the “real world”
Fortunately I found Skip, quite a few years later
The circuitous path is often the shortest distance between two points.
Michael, Well I am glad that you found Skip, too, because I have never before known such a well traveled circuitous person, all just from reading his/her comments, and have enjoyed that tiny bit of a world that I have never traveled in. Your experiences have intrigued me, most or so unique. I had never heard of most of the movies that you know the scripts by heart, all from your library, I suppose. And I certainly have a head start on you in years! ( We only have a few –95 % given to us by our children)
I can imagine that you’re a dramatic pupil to your counselor; they may pay you to come to them if they want to write a book on their patients!
Keep up the good work of walking Max, and keep on working to become the best father in CA. ( Do you know that Ed and I have two grandsons that go to the Catholic Boys High School: Bellarmine in San Jose, CA. The family lives two blocks from Los Gatos, and have for 15 years. The oldest boy will graduate this year and has a nice fat scholarship to St.Louis College, also Catholic. He is considering going there, has already visited it three times. Their mother is our youngest daughter, and comes from a Texas Southern Baptist background, & the father is also a Protestant & all are active in a Non-Denominational Church in Los Gatos. The Senior, was given an award recently for Water Polo as Outstanding Student (not for being so outstanding in that sport, but for all around student in academics, leadership, etc. We are all very surprised that he could recieve such an award not being a Catholic. I have read with interest these years all of your statements about your Catholic background.
Yes, I am indeed glad you met up with Skip years ago, and that I did about nine years ago. I have learned much through this Hebrew Word Study in many areas!
TO ALL: Have a wonderful Holiday, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year, NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE– ” We are just the Ole Folks at Home ” and just thankful for that; and using one of my Hebrew phrases that I learned from Skip, not, “olam ha-ba”! Well not yet, anyway! L.B.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeVq1e6JKlw
Hi LaVaye,
Good to hear from you! Glad to hear your grandsons are doing so well in Los Gatos
I love Los Gatos but live in Milpitas, which is a bit down scale from Los Gatos
For some reason your comments made me think of Marlon Brando
In the movie with Rod Steiger called On the Waterfront
“I coulda been a contender” is a classic line
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In the case of believers, the word flattery should be replaced with honor, as the commandment instructs.
My…how we have lost that concept with regard for our heavenly Father.
This Word today is a double edged sword. As Emily commented: convicting.
This is my first time posting and I would first like to say a big “THANKS” to you, Skip, and the community here at Today’s Word. Mine and my family’s live’s are being radically challenged and changed every single day.
In reference to today’s study, how would Romans 8:29, fit into the context of this?
“For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
Specifically, “…..Conformed to the image of His Son….”
Knowing that Paul, by his own admission, sometimes did things NOT to be imitated (Romans 7:19), his instruction to “Imitate me [Paul]…” has the qualifier, “…AS I follow Christ.”