We Are Examples
Can you think of someone in your life that served as an example of how the Christian life was to be fleshed out? Maybe it was one of your parents or a grandparent, an aunt, or uncle. For some it was a person in their church. This individual contended to be a Christian and it was obvious in the way the person lived. For you, he or she displayed a model worthy of following.
Do you realize that you as a follower of Jesus Christ put on view an example for others to track in your church, certainly your family? For good or bad we bear testimony to others, including our children and grandchildren how a follower of Jesus Christ lives.
Attuned to this reality, the Apostle Paul rolled out a commendable pattern. He was aware that people who knew him as a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, chiseled an incredible position of influence. He announced to the Philippian believers …
“Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us” (3:17).
That is a pretty bold statement. He said it again in 4:9 …
“The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things” …
He said similar to the Corinthian believers (I Corinthians 4:16; 11:1). These early believers witnessed a man who responded in a godly way to the highs and lows of the Christian experience. They were shown how to live as a follower of Jesus Christ; it was evident in good times and bad.
Could you declare something like that to people in your church; to your children and grandchildren? The fact is, all of us are models, (positive or negative) of the Christian values we affirm. Fortunately, perfection is not a requirement; honesty and transparency are! Anything less amounts to hypocrisy and hurts our cause.
As grandparents we are compelled to be aware of the fact that our family, our children, our grandchildren are watching us. Much of what they absorb about the Christian life, they see demonstrated in us. How we speak of others in the family, how we respond to the routine injustices of life, the priorities we have, the entertainment choices we make all present a model for the members of our family to follow or in some cases reject. We must take stock of our example. It is vital that we are able to confess to the members of our family, “follow me as I follow Christ.”
