-Egotism is not certainly not something to be emulated, but Paul is not guilty of that here as he exhorts the Philippians to imitate him. He actually does this elsewhere and for others as well (Philippians 4.9, 1Corinthians 4.16, 1Corinthians 11.1, 2Thessalonians 3.9), but by all accounts we are looking at someone who had lived his life with integrity and a clean conscience to the best of his ability with the hand he’d been dealt (Acts 23.1, Acts 24.16, 2Corinthians 1.12, 2Timothy 1.3). He knew that his was a good example. But he’s not feeling superior - in fact, he clearly states that there are also others who can also serve as examples for these believers to observe and imitate. He says to be constantly watching them, observing them closely, paying attention to them, to what they do, to what they think and say, to their values which play out in their lives and to how they live out their devotion to Jesus. The fact is that leaders lead and followers follow them - we go where they go, we do what they do, we emulate them. Or we can choose not to based on our priorities or the quality of their example (or lack thereof - cf Hebrews 13.7)(thus we also see multiple exhortations in Scripture for leaders to be excellent examples - cf 1Timothy 4.12, Titus 2.7, 1Peter 5.3, cf John 13.15). But everybody - even the greatest of leaders - follows someone. Everybody has at least one example, one influence. Who would yours be? Who should it be?
-Incidentally this verse makes a tremendous statement as to the importance of reading biography. The annals and adventures of many generations of great heroes of the faith - men and women cut from the same imperfect bolt of cloth as we - have been preserved and passed down to us, not only in the pages of Scripture but in countless other volumes that record the events and details of their lives and provide us with invaluable insight and inspiration in our own pursuit of Christ (James 5.10, Hebrews 6.12).
-a few suggestions:
More can be found on this list here:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/16480.Best_Christian_Biography_Autobiography
No comments:
Post a Comment