Follow My Lead
I Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
One Sunday morning in 1865 a black man walked into a upscale church in Richmond, Virginia. He came down the aisle as they were serving Communion and knelt at the altar. A rustle of resentment swept through the congregation. How dare he! After all, believers in that church used a common cup. Suddenly a distinguished layman stood up, went forward and knelt beside the black man at the altar. Setting the example, the rest of the church soon followed Robert E. Lee’s lead.
In I Corinthians 11:1, Paul exhorts the church at Corinth to follow his lead. Imitation can be a good or a bad thing depending on who you are imitating. Jesus warns us in Matthew 15:14, to avoid following blind leaders who will eventually lead us into proverbial places of ruin. Christians are commanded to imitate human leaders who in return imitate Christ . Paul is not calling for the church to worship him or to idealize him, but he was calling them to pattern their walk and talk after his Christlike walk and talk. While Jesus Christ is the ultimate one whom Christians are to follow after, all Christians need a human example to guide them in the right direction. Christ is the right direction. Good leaders lead people to Christ by showing them what a Christian should look like.
Paul is calling Christians to wield their influence and intentionally lead people to pattern their lives after Christ. Whether we like it or not, someone is watching us and wants to be just like us. With this in mind, we need to be examples of Christlikeness to others. Now the question is this, what kind of example are we? Are we leading others closer to Christ or are we leading them farther away? Good leaders know where they’re going and will eventually lead others to Jesus Christ! While there are no perfect human examples in life or in the Lord, it doesn’t exempt us from following the leadership that God has set up over us! Leaders who follow after Christ should be imitated and followed. Can we follow your lead?
God, help me to use my influence as a leader, parent, friend, sibling, co-worker or church member and use my example as a Christian to bring others to Christ, Amen!