Christian Life

There are some strange stories of people imitating other people. For instance, in 1951, the Canadian Naval Ship the Cayuga was engaged in the Korean War. It took onboard three Korean fighters who needed immediate surgery. The ship’s surgeon, Dr Joseph Cyr, went ahead and removed a bullet from the chest of one man, amputated the foot of another, etc. He performed sixteen operations onboard and surgeries on shore in Korea. But that man was not Dr Joseph Cyr. With no training in surgery, Fred Demara had “borrowed” Cyr’s credentials to get into the Canadian Navy. He had also imitated his way into being a Psychology Professor, a university administrator, a prison warden, and a Trappist monk. It truly is a bizarre story.

And yet, perhaps it is even more bizarre that the Apostle Paul instructed the Ephesian believers to “be imitators of God” (See Ephesians 5:1). There are a handful of places where believers are urged to imitate Paul or even to imitate Christ (e.g. 1 Corinthians 11:1). Still, the instruction to “imitate God” is unique to this verse. Let’s probe Paul’s point.

What is Paul’s instruction? “Therefore, be imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1). Paul is not suggesting that we pretend to be God or that we in any way usurp God’s position. For humans to invite worship, to function as if they are the central character in the universe, or to give the impression of being all-knowing, and so on, would be spiritual treason. God is God, and I am not.

On the other hand, we are very much expected to reflect the good character of God in every area of life. For instance, in the verses before and after Ephesians 5:1, we see instruction as honest, gracious, self-controlled, generous, kind, forgiving, loving, self-sacrificing, holy, and pure – all beautiful aspects of God’s perfections. (See Ephesians 4:25-5:4).

It would be fair to say that whatever is good about God’s character would be good to emulate and imitate, as long as we never blur the Creator and creature distinction. It would also be fair to notice that since the Fall of Genesis 3, humans have been much more inclined to get these categories reversed. How many people act as if they are the centre of the universe, worthy of worship, all-knowing, and in control, but lack the kind of goodness we have just described? The Fall absolutely messed us up!

Why should we imitate God? Because we are “children” (Ephesians 5:1). Whether it is fair or not, people observe children and evaluate the parents. Sometimes, a critical evaluation may be justified; other times, an outsider will have no idea of how much the parent is achieving considering the child’s circumstances. For those of us who are parents, we know how much we feel the watching eyes of others, so we hope our children will behave well in public situations.

As unfair as it may feel to us to have people evaluating us based on our children, how much more unfair is that for God? Imagine having your reputation and perception determined by representatives like you and me. After all, we are all flawed and broken people. Image bearers of God, of course, but so far from divine perfection!

And yet, the watching continues. People who never think about theological matters are watching you and me and assuming things about our God. This watching is not only from those outside the church but also from inside. Believers watch and learn from one another. I can think of people I have watched and from whom I learned something of God’s forgiveness, or God’s generosity, or God’s humility, or God’s redemptive power. The church is a living theological case study!

But how can we imitate God? The idea that we can and should imitate God’s character can feel overwhelming. How is it possible? Are we supposed to self-generate a super-human effort and achieve the impossible by sheer willpower? Notice the other word in the verse: “as beloved children” (Ephesians 5:1). This imitation instruction is not based on the burden of striving effort. Instead, it is to be fueled by the joy of a loving relationship. Being saved and brought into God’s family means we are beloved children.

The word “beloved” makes it clear that we are not “tolerated” children, or “technically” children, or even “one of millions of children.” The word “beloved” gives a sense of the lavishing of all the parental love poured out on a uniquely favoured, even an only, child. More significantly, it is the same idea used of God’s unique Son, Jesus. Remember the baptism declaration, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased!” (Matthew 3:17).

There are multiple layers in the idea of being a child of God. Just as we have three types of paternity tests used among humans, the same idea works for us as believers. There is the legal reality of being lovingly adopted into God’s family (e.g. Ephesians 1:5-6). An adopted child has the paper evidence of the adoption certificate. Then there is the DNA test proving something of a parent in a child. For believers, we have the Spirit of God living within us (e.g. Ephesians 1:13-14). And thirdly, there is the resemblance test. When we see a baby, some people will immediately pronounce that the baby has his father’s nose, eyes, or whatever. That is the DNA showing through immediately. But Ephesians 5:1 is calling us to a more developed character likeness. Just as a child in a loving relationship will grow to resemble the character of the loving parent, so it can be with us.

As we seek to lead other believers into greater God-likeness, we would do well to pause and reflect on this one word. Do I believe I am “beloved” of God? It is easy to say it, but then live as if I am merely tolerated. And yet, what rocket fuel for transformation there is in being loved by God, even as He loves the Son (see John 17:23, for instance).

In response to Ephesians 5:1, let us pray a simple prayer that has massive implications in our lives and those we influence. “My loving Father, what do you want to work on in me so I may look more like you?”

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We can easily make the Martha mistake. I don’t mean the Martha in the kitchen mistake though. At the end of Luke 10 we see Martha graciously rebuked by Jesus for desperately trying to love her neighbor as her first priority, when she should have first loved the Lord and allowed Him to minister to her before she tried to minister to others. We easily and maybe regularly make that Martha mistake, but I am not referring to that.

We can easily make the Martha in the street mistake. In John 11 we see Jesus at a key point in his ministry coming to Bethany where Lazarus was ill and then died. Martha runs to Jesus and expresses her grief, that if Jesus had been there, then Lazarus would not have died. Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. But now Lazarus was dead and buried, Jesus was too late, and Martha understandably made a mistake. What was it?

Jesus told Martha that Lazarus would rise again. What do you say to a grieving sister? Maybe this was just one of those platitudes that we hear at Christian funerals. Comfort, but distant. Martha took it that way. She assumed that Jesus comes to us and points off into the distant future – comfort for the by and by. She was mistaken.

When Jesus told Martha that “I am the resurrection and the life,” he was not just referring to the far off future. What she didn’t know was that this person stood before her was about to reinforce the Jerusalem leadership’s decision to kill him. What she didn’t know was that this person stood before her was soon to enter into death deliberately and with dignity. And what she didn’t know was that in a few weeks this person stood before her would stand up and walk out of his own tomb as the conqueror of death.

If Martha could have seen the next few weeks, then she might have anticipated more in the next few minutes. Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and Lazarus was about to be miraculously resuscitated after four days of stone cold death.

We can easily make the Martha mistake. We can assume that Jesus comes to us in the tough times of life and ministry in order to point our hearts into the future – that far off time when we will be with him and all the tears will be wiped and the presence of sin dusted away and we will forever enjoy what we were made for, fellowship with the Trinity. This is all true. But this is not all.

Jesus comes to us in the midst of hurt, and sorrow, and challenge, and struggle, and betrayal, and fatigue, and tears . . . and he comes to give us life now.

Too many gospel presentations offer only a ticket to heaven when you die. And too many Christians are walking around with hope of comfort tied exclusively to that end of life anticipation. Jesus is the kind of Savior who comes to us, by his Spirit, in the midst of the mess we experience. Jesus is the kind of Savior who gives us life now.

Martha misunderstood the physical implications of Jesus meeting her that day. We can misunderstand the spiritual implication of Jesus meeting us today.

As conqueror of death and Lord of life, what is it that Jesus offers us today as his beloved friends and family? He offers us hope for the future and a new standing with God, of course. But never let the good news diminish into a merely status-based future hope. Jesus offers us the loving intimacy of the Trinity by the Spirit poured out into our hearts reassuring us of God’s love, urging us to call God our Abba. Jesus offers us eternal life now, which is to enjoy fellowship with God our Father and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. Jesus offers us transformed hearts, filled hearts, tenderly loved hearts. Jesus offers us his presence, his comfort, his concern and his companionship. Jesus offers us life, now.

I thank God for Martha. Her mistake in the kitchen in Luke 10 is a mistake I make all the time. Jesus’ gentle rebuke of Martha resonates deeply as a loving rebuke for me. And her mistake in the street at Bethany in John 11 is a mistake I make all the time. I too tend to live my life as if Jesus’ presence is nice today, but the difference Jesus offers lies off in the distant future. Jesus lovingly corrected Martha’s grieving error by giving her the embrace of her brother that day. Jesus lovingly wants to correct our similar error by giving us his embrace, today. That is life, eternal life. It is not only life forever then. It is, in the midst of all the mess I experience, life now.