2. Imitating

Learning and imitating are closely tied.

You learn doctrine, yes. You also learn by example. Paul wrote, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). He did not flinch from pointing to himself as a model. This is not arrogance. It is honesty about how faith is actually transmitted. Faith is not transmitted only through words. It is transmitted through lives.

Jesus Himself was the pattern. He knew His disciples would not just read His teaching. They would watch how He prayed. How He treated the poor. How He responded to enemies. How He bore suffering. He lived the gospel in front of them. He demonstrated what love looks like in concrete action. He showed them what it meant to trust the Father when circumstances seemed hopeless. He modeled forgiveness, mercy, truthfulness, and courage.

The disciple does not follow a disembodied doctrine. He follows a Person. And he learns that Person's way by imitating Him.

Imitation is a powerful spiritual discipline. Proverbs warns, "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm" (Proverbs 13:20). You become like those you spend time with. If you spend time with people of integrity, you are shaped toward integrity. If you spend time with truthfulness, you become more truthful. The reverse is also true. This is not mystical. It is simple. You absorb patterns from those around you.

As a disciple, you must therefore choose your companions carefully. Seek out mature believers. Learn from them. Watch how they handle their marriage. Their work. Their money. Their failures. Their suffering. You will copy them, whether deliberately or not. Better to copy deliberately.

But imitation goes deeper than copying external behavior. The disciple watches how Christ handled rejection, and practices responding to rejection as He did. He observes Christ's generosity, and practices generosity. He sees Christ's courage before the Sanhedrin, and practices speaking truth even when it is costly.

Imitation is also a corporate discipline. The church gives us examples that span centuries. Read the lives of faithful believers. Learn how John Bunyan endured imprisonment rather than renounce Christ. Learn how William Carey labored in India believing God for the conversion of millions. Learn how Susanna Wesley shaped a household toward godliness while her husband was often away. Learn how the early Christians faced lions. These examples are not distant. They show you what faith looks like lived out in real circumstances.

A note on imitating leaders.

When Paul said to imitate him, he was not claiming perfection. In the same letter to the Philippians where he points to his own example, he writes, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on" (Philippians 3:12). The disciple learns from those who are still pressing on. Not from those who claim to have arrived. A faithful mentor is one who is still being shaped.

Look around Mayflower. Look at older believers. Look at brothers and sisters who have walked with Christ a long time. Watch them. Ask them how they got there. Ask them what they would do differently. Take them to coffee.

The mature believer you imitate today is forming the kind of disciple you will be in ten years.