Be Ye Followers Of Me (Part 1)

Dear Bethelites,

In our previous pastoral chat, we had learnt that Paul was the Corinthians’ spiritual father.  As their spiritual father, he must set the example for them to follow.  People need to be taught good and wonderful doctrines, but without a good example, those teachings cannot be effective.  They need godly examples for them to see how those teachings can be rightly applied into their lives.  Therefore, Paul said to the Corinthians, Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Discipling

What Paul meant is that “when you want to know what it means to follow Christ, then follow in my steps, and I will show you what it means to follow Him.”  That is what true leadership is all about; it is not just leadership by instruction, but essentially it is leadership by example.

There are some people who are very good at instructing people what to do, “You must do this, and you must not do that.  But when it comes to their own lives, they do not apply what they teach.”  Their philosophy is, “Just follow what I say, but don’t follow what I do.”  Those kinds of people should be disqualified to be leaders of God’s people!

People need human examples which will influence them.  The question is what kinds of people are influencing us?  Who is having an influence in our lives?  The Corinthians were influenced by the wrong people so much so that they were divided into different groups, and thus, the church was fractured.  That is why there are qualifications for elders and deacons in the church.  God has called these people to set their lives as examples for others to follow.

The word followers means those who imitate; the literal meaning of the word “follow” is to mimic.  In other words, Paul was urging the Corinthians to imitate the way he lived his life.  Surely some people would question, “But why should one follow after an imperfect sinner?  Shouldn’t one follow Christ who is the ultimate example?”

James Montgomery, the late Presbyterian Minister, wrote, “Had Paul been perfect, he would not have been an example for the believers to follow.  We need to follow someone who is not perfect so we can see how to overcome our imperfections.  Someone who can show us how to handle the struggles of life, the disappointments and the trials. Someone who can show us how to handle pride, resist temptation and put sin to death.  Only Christ is the perfect standard, model and example for believers to emulate.  Christ never needed to pursue perfection, for He had always been perfect.  Paul was a fellow believer just like every one of us, on the path toward the unattainable spiritual perfection, and in this regard, he has set a good example for us to follow.”

How true!  The same principle applies to parents.  No parent is perfect, yet he wants the child to emulate his example.  Why?  Because he has been down that path before, and is able to show the child the way he should go.

One of the essential aspects of the Christian faith is discipleship.  Discipleship is about following, imitating or emulating; it is about one believer following the godly example of another believer.

Dear friend, whom have you discipled?  Is your life a good influence that others want to follow, imitate and emulate?

One of the most difficult places to disciple is in the home.  When we try to disciple someone outside our family, it is relatively easy because they often see us only in ideal situations when we are able to behave spiritually and respond positively.  But our spouses and children see us in all kinds of situations, moods and attitudes.  They know firsthand if we are living up to what we are trying to teach them, and we will either encourage or stumble them.  If our behaviours are undesirable, we can be sure that our teachings and instructions will fall on deaf ears.

This same situation also occurs in the church which is our spiritual family.  There are people whom we relate very closely to, e.g. the Sunday school teacher, youth leader, DHW facilitator, deacon, etc.  Essentially, discipleship is more than just teaching the right principles; it is about living out those principles before the ones who are being discipled.

The Apostle Paul was so successful in discipleship that his disciple, Timothy, was now ready to disciple others.  1 Corinthians 4:17, For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.  Timothy was an example of a good follower, and was able to remind the Corinthians how Paul had lived his life and what he had taught them.

This is the kind of relationship that ought to be present in the local church, where the minister would serve the Lord, and pass the leadership baton to the next person, who would then pass the leadership baton to the next person, and it goes on and on, for as long as the Lord would tarry in His return.

A wise Bible teacher once gave this piece of advice, “If you want to be a leader like Paul, you must first be a Timothy.”  In other words, one must first be a faithful follower.  In fact, the first part of our ministry is to be a Timothy, and the second part of our ministry is being a Paul looking for the right Timothy.

Sadly, there are many people who enter into the ministry, wanting to be like Paul, but unwilling to be first a Timothy.

This principle ought to be applied into every aspect of our lives; to be a good father, a faithful Sunday school teacher or a committed youth leader - one has to be first a Timothy, following the footsteps of other faithful men and women.

It was not just some moral behaviour or certain value systems that Paul wanted the people to follow.  He wanted “doctrines” to be taught, as I teach every where in every church.

Timothy had been sent to the Corinthians because he could faithfully teach them the same doctrines that Paul had taught in all the churches.  Timothy was not expected to teach new things, but simply reiterating what Paul had already taught.

What happens when someone who is unwilling to be a Timothy enters into the ministry?  He will start telling the people, “Well, I do not agree with what the pastor teaches, or I do not agree with what the church believes in?  Instead of building the peoples’ faith, he will destroy their faith and cause confusions and doubts.  Let us learn to be like Timothy to bring the truth to the people.

In Christ,

Pastor Paul Cheng

(To be continued in our next pastoral chat)