Imitators of Christ

Imitators of Christ. We've heard it our whole lives growing up, that you somehow need to look up at the picture of God and copy every move he makes. How can we imitate something we cannot see? A little boy in a church pew is told that it means wearing a monkey suit, taking notes about the pastor's sermon and giving his dollar when the silver tray comes around. Is that who God is? Is that really imitating Him?


My friend and I were talking the other day about working out (not an uncommon subject for anyone who knows me) when she brought up the point about exercise trends, and how some people stay committed and others don't. "I think it mostly has to do with the type of people you hang around with," she said, "I heard about a study that surveyed several overweight people, one group that had lean friends and the other that had friends in their same weight range. The people who hung out with the lean friends lost significantly more weight and kept up those habits much more so than the other group. It really makes a lot of sense.

I remember first starting back to soccer over a year ago, first starting to get my butt off the couch and being forced to run 1 mile jogs before practice every Wednesday. I almost always finished last, or at least close to the end. It was so frustrating for me, who used to be my lean sprinter back a few years ago. Over half the members of our team were in track and crosstrek, obviously they were hard to catch up to. It was then when I first started working out, forcing myself to run to the point of exhaustion, trying to catch up to them. I was chasing them with every muscle in my body.

S0 just how do we become imitators of Christ? Is it by doing the right thing, by hanging out with the right people, or is it by chasing him with every muscle in your body, striving to get just a bit closer, to just touch the fringe or his robe. God is not some lock that opens with the right combination, or the right set of numbers, He is alive and moving, begging us to follow his lead. We must chase him as the moon chases the sun, pouring itself out just to see the the light he gives. God is not some destination nor is he the finish line of the race, he is the race.