Okay, I want to talk to you this morning about imitation and example.
Okay, imitation and example.
Let's back a little bit.
I think this is a really important word.
I don't typically give the same word to you guys and to Bellicose Church,
but this is just one that I think is really important for both.
It's one of these kind of, I think, foundational words.
And so I really encourage you to think about these things, listen to these things,
search them out on your own, and let's see what God has for us.
So basically this morning I want to propose to you that you may have or likely have
learned a way of doing church and discipleship that is not consistent with the Scriptures.
Okay, why do I think that?
Because I've observed that many people want Christianity without the cost,
or many people want the benefits of the church without the priority of the church.
Okay?
Want the benefits of the church without prioritizing the church.
Many people want community without responsibility and accountability for really partnership.
And you hear that all the time.
There's one thing I've heard from new people coming into the world of the church.
They most often say, I want community.
But they want community without having to take responsibility and without having to be accountable.
And that's just, there's no such thing.
You're never going to get community that way.
You're never going to get true family that way.
Many people want a sense of camaraderie without commitment to mission.
Okay?
True camaraderie comes when the context of being on a shared mission together.
This is why soldiers have a unique camaraderie that you can't really,
nothing really competes to the camaraderie that soldiers have.
Because it's this heightened sense of mission with great stakes.
And the only ones who should be really comfortable to that are Christians.
Because we are on mission.
We are soldiers in one sense for Christ.
But our battle is spiritual and the stakes are way higher.
But that's, a lot of people want camaraderie, but they don't want commitment to mission.
A lot of people want leadership without sacrifice and submission.
They don't want to have to do meetings and training and late nights.
But they still want to lead.
Well, that's not how it works.
Many people want the fruit of the Spirit without the power of the Holy Spirit.
Many people want a great marriage and family without God's specific roles for gender.
Many people want great kids without the expense of discipline and education.
Many people essentially want outcomes without imitation.
Let me say that again.
Many people want outcomes without imitation.
Today, or yesterday, ironically, is the 13-year anniversary of the church that you guys were sent out of, Bellicose Church.
Okay.
And in the last 13 years, it's been surprising to me how many people have wanted or have even demanded
us to bend our culture ways and traditions to them rather than they bending their culture ways and traditions to us.
There's this kind of expectation that, okay, I see things in the church that I want,
but there's certain things, the cost is too great or the things that are required to get it, I don't want to give.
So I just want the bennies without, you know, let's just, can't you just bend it so that I get all these great benefits,
but then you do these things my way?
And it's like, well, first of all, no.
Second of all, you don't realize that that's actually how those bennies came to be.
It's because of the other stuff that maybe you don't like.
But there's this almost entitlement and this expectation that we get to pick and choose.
You get to, we live in this kind of podcast culture, and you just kind of pick and choose from people
instead of taking the full DNA of someone or the ingredients and nutrients from a person.
It's basically fruit without cost, benefit without inconvenience,
and it's really a bunch of fatherless fruit pickers, kind of bastardized version of fruit pickers.
You know, you just kind of pick and choose what you want.
I got this leader I'm really into, and I got this kind of podcast that I listen to.
And instead of getting the whole person and finding people and imitating their way of life,
imitating them, it's just like we pick and choose fatherless fruit pickers.
It's pervasive.
And what is the result of it?
We lack the outcomes then because we don't have the imitation.
We just are picking and choosing.
And you might say, well, what are you saying?
You just can't challenge anything?
No, no, no.
We welcome challenge.
As a church, we welcome challenge.
As a leader, I welcome challenge.
That's a good thing.
But if you only pull from people the things you want and you don't submit in the areas where you don't agree,
then you don't get the nutrients.
You don't absorb the ingredients from those examples.
So let's look at this in the scriptures, okay?
Basically, I want to start with this concept of ways and traditions.
We'll start in 1 Corinthians chapter 4.
1 Corinthians chapter 4.
Before I get into that, I want to read one quote, actually.
This is from Doug Wilson.
Kind of describes what I just explained.
He says, well, you can turn to 1 Corinthians 4, but I'll read this quote from Doug.
He says,
which the Bible praises in a number of places.
Romans 15, Philippians chapter 2, and which our modern world condemns.
It is not even hard to find Christians who are wary of like-mindedness.
Instead, they say, you have to be an individual.
Be your own dog.
You must not imitate others, period.
The result of this is vain exercise, like throwing rocks at the moon.
Sorry.
The result of this vain exercise, like throwing rocks at the moon, does not eliminate imitation.
It only guarantees the imitation of fools.
So good.
Okay?
He's basically saying, we've got this kind of disembodied thing that we want.
And the order of the day is individualism.
No, no, no.
You don't imitate.
You don't get like-mindedness.
What is this, a cult?
What do you get for yourself?
You know, it's almost celebrated and as a virtue to not conform to other people's way of thinking.
To have your own.
You be yourself.
You go, girl.
You know, you do your thing.
I love that you're individual.
I love that you don't do what everybody else does.
That's your claim to fame.
That's your hallmark, your code.
That's your thing, man.
And that becomes exalted.
That becomes celebrated.
But the result of it, what he's saying is it looks like, oh, because of that, we're actually not imitating people.
Isn't that cool?
And he's saying there is no option to not imitate.
You either imitate someone else who is godly and a good example, or you imitate the fools who all try to live by their own selves.
It's a great point.
And Paul makes these similar points.
We're going to look at ways and traditions, starting in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 14.
Paul says,
I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
For though you have countless guides in Christ, you don't have many fathers.
Okay, this is what I'm talking about, kind of this constant, like, guides.
But he says, you don't have many fathers.
You have so many instructors, so many guides.
You don't have many fathers.
For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
I urge you then be imitators of me.
Okay, so stopping there.
He says, I urge you then.
What do you mean then?
Why is he saying then?
He's tying the fact that if I'm your father in Christ Jesus, which he's saying I am through the gospel,
then there's an automatic implication of his fathering.
The automatic implication of someone being your father is you to imitate.
Now, again, that flies in the face of our modern culture.
Imitate my father?
Yes, that's the biblical implied understanding.
The word then is put there because he says I'm your father.
The fact that he says I'm your father means that then you must be imitators.
You see the correlation there?
And then he goes a step further in verse 17.
And he says, that is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved faithful and child in the Lord.
To remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every church.
Stopping there.
Okay, think about it.
Does that make sense?
If he's saying because I'm your father, then you should imitate me.
Why wouldn't he then say I'm sending myself so you can see me and imitate me?
That's not what he says.
He says, I'm sending you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord,
to remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every church.
So he's saying, not only am I to be a person that you should imitate,
that the normative culture of church is that as people imitate one another,
that you can imitate the imitators.
Because they themselves will remind you of my ways.
Timothy is my child, my faithful child in the Lord.
And he's going to remind you of my ways in Christ.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Paul.
What's this my ways in Christ?
Why don't you just talk about God's ways?
Good question.
Everyone would love to say, oh, come on, man.
Get Paul out of here.
This is about Christ.
He didn't say God's ways.
He said my ways.
He says, I teach these everywhere in every church.
My ways in Christ.
So he's not, he has a way that he built and he taught it in every church.
Now, it was not untethered to Christ.
It's always needs to be tethered to Christ.
But God has given gifts to the church.
Ephesians chapter four, verses 11 to 12.
Apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists.
These people are gifts to the church to build up the church.
Okay.
One of them is apostle.
And here we have the example of the gift of apostle given to a church.
And so then he goes to each church and then he can even send Timothy, who's like a clone
of him, so to speak, an imitation, to remind them of Paul's ways in Christ.
The way he did things in Christ.
And he would teach his ways everywhere in and every church.
Isn't that fascinating?
He says, some are arrogant as though I were not coming to you.
Verse 19, but I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills.
And I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people, but their power.
For the kingdom of God is not consistent talk, but in power.
So essentially he's saying, I don't care about talk.
There's a lot of guys can talk.
You have 10,000 instructors who can talk.
Where's the fruit?
Where's the substance?
I don't, we'll find out.
We'll find out who these guys are, right?
I'll come to you if the Lord wills.
And when I do, these arrogant people, I'm going to find out not their talk,
but their power.
But that's not how we do things, isn't it?
What are you impressed with?
What are Christians impressed with?
Man, I really love this speaker.
He's just such a great speaker.
His oratory skills are off the charts.
The size of his church is amazing.
The amount of followers he has on social media,
or the amount of people in his church,
what makes me want to follow him?
Paul's like, listen, I ain't interested in talk.
Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk.
It's a matter of power.
Where's the power?
Where's the fruit?
Are you following people who have never,
who haven't seen the fruit of their life,
or they have Timothy's?
Are they people who have actually reproduced people?
Are they people who have fruit in their life?
There are people who can talk a good game,
but have they ever built anything?
Have they ever built anything?
Have they ever built what they talk about?
Or do they just talk?
Do they just theorize?
Paul says, I'll tell you about these arrogant people.
We'll see if they got the goods.
And they'll be based on their power.
Do they have the power?
Hebrews 13, 7 speaks of the similar thing.
Okay?
Whoever wrote Hebrews says,
remember your leaders,
those who spoke to you the word of God.
Consider the outcome of their way of life
and imitate their faith.
Okay?
Consider the outcome of their way of life.
Again, he's saying,
look at your leaders.
So often now,
we have people,
they listen to people,
and because they're a good speaker,
they got a lot of followers,
whatever,
but what about the outcome of their way of life?
A lot of people say,
well,
I want the same outcomes of that person.
Maybe you've said that before.
I want the same outcomes of that person,
but are you willing to imitate their way of life to get there?
A lot of people say,
I want my kids to be like so-and-so's kids.
Their kids are great.
I see that.
But then they're not,
and they think,
oh,
I'm going to,
I want kids like theirs.
But then they're not willing to do what that parent did to get those kids.
They're not willing to imitate the faith that was required,
the faith that brought them to that place.
And so we want outcomes without imitation.
And the writer of the Hebrews says,
hey,
remember your leaders.
Examine the outcome of their way of life.
Don't just listen to what they say.
What is the outcome of their way of life?
What have they produced in their way of life?
And then,
if you want that outcome,
you're going to have to imitate them.
Are you someone that,
someone would want to imitate?
Would someone want to imitate your faith?
Would someone look at the outcome of your way of life and say,
I want that same outcome.
So I want to imitate your faith as well.
This is what should be happening.
This is the,
this is the way.
You're going to see,
I'm going to,
we're going to go into more verses here,
but this is the way that God builds.
Second Timothy chapter three.
Okay.
Starting verse 10.
This is Paul writing to Timothy.
He says,
you speaking of Timothy,
he says,
you ever have followed my teaching,
my conduct,
my aim in life.
The NIV says way of life,
my faith,
my patience,
my love,
my steadfastness,
my persecutions and suffering.
Okay.
You have followed these things.
Timothy was,
he could send Timothy and people could be reminded of his ways because
Timothy followed his teaching.
He followed his conduct,
his aim in life,
his way of life,
his faith,
his patience.
Are you someone who has these type of things?
Are you an example that people could follow?
And do you have people that you're following?
People that you're,
you're saying,
I want to imitate their way of life.
I want to,
I want the,
the same nutrients.
I want the nutrients that are in them to flow down into my life.
And so I'm going to imitate them.
I'm going to follow their way of life.
This is what Timothy did.
And Paul pointed it out here.
First Corinthians chapter 10,
starting in verse 31.
Paul says,
so whether you eat or drink,
whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God,
give no offense to the Jews or the Greeks or to the church of God,
just as I try to please everyone and everything I do,
not seeking my own advantage,
but that of many that they may be saved.
And then he says,
chapter 11,
verse one,
he says,
be imitators of me as I am of Christ.
Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the
traditions,
even as I deliver them to you.
Okay.
So he's saying,
I,
I passed down traditions to you.
What,
what traditions of men or women that you love and respect are you following?
Are you imitating?
He said,
imitate me as I,
be an imitator of me as I am of Christ.
Imitate me as I imitate Christ.
Right.
And I commend you because you remember me and everything and maintain the
traditions I delivered to you.
You know,
that's,
that's so offensive nowadays in our,
in our culture.
And we want to,
everyone wants to be new and hip and recreate the wheel.
No one wants to be traditional.
Okay.
And I get it.
In many ways,
we're not like some typical traditional church,
but we should never shy away of having specific traditions or ways of life
that we hand down to other people and never apologize for there being a common way of
thinking in our church that people imitate.
Sometimes we're tempted to feel embarrassed by that.
I know that has happened over the years when you have a culture of people who all tend to,
where the majority of them homeschool.
And people just feel like,
Oh,
you know,
trying to accommodate the person who doesn't homeschool and trying to make them feel good and feel like that's cool.
And they should make them feel like it's cool because there's nothing wrong per se in not homeschooling.
But you should not apologize for a way of life that is imitated among a lot of people.
If in fact,
the value system that undergirds it is a godly one.
We should be unapologetic for it.
And if someone feels left out in that,
it feels like,
Oh,
I feel left out.
I feel like if I come into this church and everybody homeschools and I don't,
I'm going to feel left out.
It's like,
you might a little bit.
We have a way of life.
Churches,
people should have a way of life.
Paul says,
I have a way of life.
I have traditions.
I pass them down to you.
Paul's not apologizing for his traditions.
Paul's not saying,
Oh,
do you feel kind of left out because you're not,
you don't follow the same traditions as I do?
No,
he says,
follow my traditions.
I commend you because I handed them down to you and you followed them.
You followed my traditions.
You followed my way of life.
That's important.
That's what we need to do.
And that's what Paul's telling them to do.
Second Thessalonians three,
verse six.
He says,
now we command you brothers in the name of our Lord,
Jesus Christ,
that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in
accord with the tradition that you receive from us.
Okay.
So now he's,
he's upping the ante a little bit more.
And when he's in Thessalonica,
he's saying,
Hey,
I'm commanding you.
If you see any brother who's walking in idleness and not in accord with the
traditions,
we set up,
keep away from him.
Okay.
Why?
Cause he's not,
he's not following the traditions.
He's literally telling them,
exclude that person from your fellowship.
Why?
Cause he's not following the traditions.
Do you see that?
What he's saying there?
He's not walking.
He's walking in idleness and not in accordance with tradition that you receive
from us for yourselves.
No,
how you ought to imitate us.
There's that language again,
because we were not idle when we were with you,
nor do we eat anyone's bread without paying for it.
But with toil and labor,
we work night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you.
It was not because we don't have that right,
but to give you and ourselves an example to imitate.
This is why for the first seven years when we planted bellicos,
I worked,
I didn't take money from the church.
I worked a full-time job.
One of the,
not because I didn't have a right to take money from the church at that point
in time,
but I didn't want anybody to look at me and say,
you're asking us to do something you're not willing to do.
I had a full-time job,
seven kids,
and I'm doing every single thing I'm asking everybody else to do.
Yay more.
I'm trying to set an example.
And I didn't want anyone to say,
oh, church boy over here doesn't want to do everything that he's commanding us to do.
I have no respect for him.
I couldn't afford to lose the respect of the congregation
by not being willing to do everything I was asking other people to do.
And I had that right.
But I'm not going to take up that right.
I wanted to pass on a tradition of being able to do kingdom life
in the context of the normal everyday stuff of life that people have,
like raising a lot of kids,
having a full-time job,
you know,
these kinds of things.
And he says,
you know yourselves how you ought to imitate us.
I wanted people to say,
hey,
imitate what I'm doing.
This is possible.
Part of the reason we have this,
Paul's doing this imitation thing is because it puts on display what's possible.
Listen,
you can do these things.
And here's proof.
I'm doing them.
That's why this disembodied kind of way of Christianity,
where we just take ideas,
theories,
books,
podcasts,
and that becomes our chief reference point,
rather than these concepts incarnated in real flesh and blood people,
and the nutrients of those people,
and the value system of those people,
being imparted and infused into a group of people,
as even double portion sons and daughters,
is so much superior.
than just a transfer of information.
We've reduced church to a transfer of information.
I like the information you put out,
and I want to take it in.
No.
Information's good.
Good teaching is good.
Bad teaching is bad.
Okay?
I'm not advocating that we don't care about doctrine and teaching,
but I'm saying,
church is way more than just an exchange of information.
It's an exchange of love,
wisdom,
and power
that comes not just through the exchange of information,
that comes through the exchange of life,
where you are imitating one another,
where there's a sharing of life.
Okay?
We see this in the scriptures,
this concept of imitation and example.
Let's continue on here.
Philippians chapter 3,
starting verse 12.
Paul says,
not that I've already obtained this,
or I'm already perfect,
but I press on to make it my own,
because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Brothers,
I do not consider that I've made it my own,
but one thing I do,
forgetting what lies behind,
straining forward to what lies ahead.
Verse 14,
I press on toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Let those of us who are mature think this way,
and if anything you think otherwise,
God will reveal that also to you.
Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Then he says in verse 17,
Brothers,
join in imitating me,
and keep your eyes on those who walk
according to the example you have in us.
Okay?
Have in us?
Who is he talking about?
I thought this was Paul.
He's speaking in the plural.
Who's he talking about?
If you go to Philippians chapter 1, verse 1,
who's the ones who's writing this book?
First three words of that book are Paul and Timothy.
Is that interesting?
He's saying,
Join in imitating me,
and keep your eyes on those who walk
according to the example you have in us.
So he's not just saying imitating me.
He's also saying,
Watch the examples of those who are imitating us,
who walk according to the example.
Are you someone who's living an example
that people want to live in?
I tell you what,
one of the most valuable things
that you can experience
is the opportunity
to learn how to lead without a title.
When I was a part of a church,
a couple churches back,
and they never appointed me as an elder,
but I would attend all the elders' meetings,
and they looked to me almost like an elder,
but I never got the title of an elder.
And it was very frustrating to me.
So I'm thinking,
What is the deal here?
Like, I'm being asked to give input as an elder.
I'm attending all the elders' meetings,
but I was never appointed as an elder.
And I looked at that,
and I thought,
Oh, this is such a,
this is not a good thing.
And maybe it wasn't,
but you know what?
In hindsight, it was so good for me.
I learned a really valuable lesson.
And the lesson was
that I could not lean
on a title or authority
to bring influence.
The danger about having a title or authority
before you have influence
is that you rely on the title or authority
to bring influence,
which is the most disillusioning thing
for the people you're trying to lead.
You want to be someone that people don't respect?
Enforce or assert authority
that you don't have in influence.
And this is relevant to us
because there's no elders in this church.
There's no,
other than my leadership in this church,
that doesn't exist.
So there's a unique opportunity
for leadership,
but the temptation is always to assert
a form of authority
that doesn't exist in our influence.
And if you learn to influence
before you have title or authority,
your title and authority
is that much more powerful
because people respect you
and people want to follow your example.
It's always the temptation though
because it's easier.
It's easier to assert authority
than to exercise authority
through influence.
Authority flows to those
who take responsibility
and exert influence.
Influence doesn't always
flow to those
who have title and authority.
Do you hear me on that?
Very important point.
And I know the temptation
is to think,
hey, we need titles
and authority sooner
so we can bring influence.
And I just want to say,
if you've ever thought that,
I really disagree with you.
And I don't think
you're seeing the wisdom of God.
It is much more wise
to learn the art,
the ability to influence
without title and authority
so that when you do get
title and authority,
it'll be wielded
in a righteous way.
And there's absolutely
no reason why you cannot
use and exercise influence
in a godly way
without title and authority.
It's just way harder
because you can't cheat.
You can't assert your authority
because you don't have it.
All you have is what you have.
All you have is your example.
And if your example
isn't that good,
if your reputation
isn't that great,
you don't have any authority.
But if you have
a great example,
you have a way of life
that would want
to be imitated.
If you have an example
that people say,
I respect this person,
I trust this person,
I want to live
like this person,
you have a level
of authority
that exists
without even having
the title.
But that's an important thing.
Don't ever think
or assume
that people should
follow you
or trust you
because you have
some sense of entitlement
to some form
of leadership.
You're never,
ever entitled
to people's trust.
Even if you're
in a place of authority.
And I know
you're tempted
to want it
and think that you are owed it,
but you're never owed it.
You always got to work for it.
You got to work for that trust.
You got to work for that.
And I'm not saying
that there shouldn't be
a certain respect
for people who are
in God-given places
of authority.
There should be.
But you shouldn't have
this entitled view
that, oh,
people should trust us.
And the fact is,
we could all do
a better job
of learning how
to win one another's trust
and to live an example
that people would
want to follow.
That's an important
thing here, okay?
Join in imitating
and keep your eyes
on those who walk
according to the example
you have in us.
Speaking of Paul
and Timothy.
He goes on
in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1,
verse 2.
It says,
We give thanks to God
always for all of you,
constantly mentioning you
in our prayers,
remembering before our God
and Father
your work of faith,
labor of love,
and steadfastness of hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faith, hope, and love.
Those three phrases
are so great.
He's saying,
Remembering your work
of faith,
labor of love,
steadfastness of hope.
Those are three ways
to leave a good example,
right?
Those three that will remain
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
For we know,
brothers,
loved by God,
that He has chosen you
because our gospel
came to you
not only in word
but also in power
and in the Holy Spirit
and with full conviction.
Then He makes
this great phrase here.
He says,
You know what kind of men
we proved to be
among you
for your sake
and you became
imitators of us
and of the Lord.
You hear that?
You know what kind of men
we proved to be
among you
for your sake.
What kind of men
and women
are you proving
to be among
this church?
The proof's always
in the pudding.
The proof's always
in the fruit.
Wisdom is proved true
by your actions.
I think we can talk
and say they have wisdom.
The Bible says
wisdom is proved true
by your actions.
What kind of men
and women
are you among
the people?
Okay?
And then He says,
Become imitators
of us
and of the Lord.
Become imitators
of us.
And you receive
the word of much affliction
with the joy
of the Holy Spirit
so that you became
an example
to all the believers
in Macedonia
and Achaia.
For not only
has the word
of the Lord
sounded forth
from you
in Macedonia
and Achaia,
but your faith
in God
has gone forth
everywhere
so that we
need not
say anything.
So not only
did they become
imitators
of Paul
and the men
that were among
them,
which there's
multiple men,
this is Paul,
if you look at
1 Thessalonians
at the beginning,
it's Paul,
Silvanus,
and guess who?
Timothy.
Okay?
He said,
You knew what kind
of men we were
among you for your sake?
Not only did they
emulate him
and imitate him,
but then they
became an example
to churches
all over the place.
Wouldn't it be
awesome if there
were multiple
churches in
Kansas City,
Raytown area,
just all over
the city that
were examples
to other cities?
Wouldn't that
be awesome?
You ain't just
going to get that
by just listening
to a bunch of
sermons.
And you should
listen to sermons.
I'm preaching a
sermon.
I'm not undermining
my own sermon.
Okay?
I believe you
should listen
to the sermon.
But you don't
just get that
from listening
to information.
It has to be
imitated.
You have to
imitate real
people.
Real people.
You can't have
a disembodied
Gnostic Christianity.
Okay?
He goes on
in 1 Thessalonians
2,
verse 1,
he says,
For yourselves
know,
brothers,
that our
coming to you
is not in vain.
But though we
had already
suffered and
been shamefully
treated at
Philippi,
as you know,
we had boldness
in our God
to declare to
you the gospel
of God
in the midst
of much
conflict.
For our
appeal does
not spring
from error
or impurity
or any
attempt to
deceive,
but just as
we have been
approved by
God to be
entrusted with
the gospel,
so we speak
not to please
man,
but to please
God,
who tests
our hearts.
For we never
came with
words of
flattery.
As you know,
nor with a
pretext for
greed,
God is witness.
Nor do we
seek glory from
people,
whether from you
or from others,
though we
could have
made demands
as apostles
of Christ.
Okay?
Important point
here,
do you see that
he's talking in
the plural here
and keeps saying
we?
He's going to
keep going on
in the rest of
this chapter.
Keeps saying we
are us.
Who's he speaking
of?
Again, you look at
1 Thessalonians
chapter 1,
verse 1,
he says,
Paul,
Silvanus,
and Timothy,
which he just
said,
we could have
made demands
as apostles of
Christ.
There's your
proof that
Timothy was an
apostle,
if you're ever
wondering.
Just set it
right there.
We as
apostles,
Paul,
Silvanus,
Timothy,
three apostles.
We could have
made demands
as apostles
of Christ,
but we were
gentle among
you,
like a nursing
mother taking
care of her
own children.
So being
affectionately
desirous of
you,
we were ready
to share with
you not only
the gospel of
God,
but also our
own selves,
because you
had become so
very dear to
us.
Listen to that
language.
Okay?
Again,
are we
willing to
share not
just the
gospel,
not just
information,
not just
the truth,
but our
very lives,
our very
selves?
Because he
was affectionately
desirous of
them,
they didn't
just share
the gospel,
but they
shared their
very selves.
That's father
and that's
mother.
He said like
a nursing
mother.
Okay?
Are we
willing to
do that?
Are we
willing to
share our
lives?
Not just
the convenient
things,
but vulnerability,
not just
transparency
where people
can see
in the
windows,
but the
opening of
the doors
of our
hearts to
say,
hey,
voluntary
openness to
say this
is what's
going on
in my
life.
Some of
you are
feeling more
close to
each other
than other
you.
Some of
you are
saying it's
been a
little bit
hard to
get to
know one
another and
grow close
to one
another in
these last
three,
four months
as a
church.
I can
almost
guarantee
you that
some of
that is
caused by
not being
voluntarily
open.
If you
want to
go deep,
don't wait
for someone
to ask
you how
things are
going.
Don't wait
for someone
to ask
you if
things are
hard in
your life.
Don't wait
for someone
to ask
you about
the good
things in
your life.
You have
to voluntarily
open yourself
up to do
that.
That's how
you share
not just
the gospel
but your
very lives.
You're
opening up
your heart
to one
another.
You're
making room
in your
hearts
for people
to live
and to die
with one
another.
This is
the language
of Paul.
He says
you do
this because
you have
become very
dear to
us.
For you
remember
brothers
our labor
and toil
we work
night and
day.
We might
not be a
burden to
any of
you while
we proclaim
to you
the gospel
of God.
You are
witnesses
and God
also how
holy and
righteous and
blameless was
our conduct
towards you
believers.
How holy
righteous and
blameless was
our conduct.
Who is
the ones
whose holy
righteous
blameless
conduct you
want to
imitate?
He said
for you know
like a
father with
his
children we
exhorted each
one of you
and encouraged
you and
charged you
to walk in
a manner
worthy of
God.
To walk in
a manner
a way of
life that
was worthy
of God.
We
exhorted
you we
encouraged
you and
we challenged
you.
Okay?
Or charged
you sorry.
Exhorted
encouraged
and charged.
We all need
people in our
life who
exhort us
who charge
us and
encourage us
to live in
a manner
worthy of
God.
People who
do it like a
father with
his children.
We all
need
fathers.
Walk in a
manner worthy
of God who
calls you in
his own
kingdom and
glory.
We also
thank God
constantly for
this and
when we
received the
word of
God which
you heard
from us
you accepted
it not as
the word of
men but as
what it
really is.
The word of
God which
is that work
in you
believers.
For you
brothers became
imitators of
the churches of
God in Christ
Jesus that are
in Judea.
For you
suffered the same
things from
your own
countrymen as
they did from
the Jews.
He's saying
you imitated
us so much
so that you
imitated the
churches.
You even
imitated our
suffering which
going back to
Paul with
Timothy when he
says I followed
your way of
life your
conduct.
Remember what
it said at the
end?
I followed
even your
persecutions and
your sufferings.
They even
imitated because
they lived the
same way of
life they
ended up
imitating the
same suffering
and persecution.
imitation.
That's how
close their
imitation was.
But we want
outcomes without
imitations.
And who are
the people who
can be examples
that would be
followed?
Are you living
a life?
Is your
leadership, is
your example of
your righteousness,
the way you show
up to things or
don't show up to
things, your
promptness or
being laid,
your parenting,
your husbandry,
your being a
wife, your
godliness and
being single,
your example of
being a single
godly pure
person, the way
you conduct
yourself in a
dating relationship,
the way you
conduct yourself
and how you
obey your
parents?
Are you able
to set an
example that
someone would
want to
emulate?
Paul says,
1 Timothy 4,
12, he says,
don't let anyone
look down to you
because you're
young.
Send them an
example of
speech, in
life, in
love, in
faith, in
purity.
How's your
speech?
How's your
life?
How's your
love?
How's your
faith?
How's your
purity?
Is it an
example?
Peter said the
same thing when
he said to
the elders,
take care of
the flock that
is under their
care.
What did he
say to do?
He said, be
examples to
them.
Be examples to
them.
Hebrews 6,
10-12, it
says, God is
not on
justice to
overlook your
work and the
love that you
have shown for
his name in
serving the
saints as you
still do.
And we
desire each
one of you to
show the same
earnestness, to
have the full
assurance of hope
until the end,
so that you
may not be
sluggish, but
imitators of
those who, through
faith and
patience, inherit
the promise.
People say, I
want to inherit
the promise.
Are you
willing to
imitate what it
took to inherit
the promise,
though?
We see people who
are inheritors of
promise, and we
say, I want your
inheritance.
Do you want the
work that it took
to get there?
A sluggish person
who's not willing
to imitate the
faith and patience
that it took to
receive that
inheritance is
never going to
receive an
inheritance.
But that's what
people want.
They're like the
prodigal son saying,
give me my
inheritance before
you die.
No, where's the
faith and the
patience that is
imitated that gets
the same inheritance
that you look up to
so much?
Through faith and
patience, inherit
the promises.
We all love to
follow a faith
movement, but
where's the
patience movement?
That one's not
sexy.
Man, you're a
faith preacher,
man.
You got faith.
That's awesome.
I love your
faith, brother.
I want to be
like you.
No one's ever
like, I love the
fact that you do
the same thing for
a long time with
no fruit and you
keep doing it.
We should start a
patience movement.
We could use
one.
And if you're
going to be a
part of a
church plant,
you better
believe.
You think you're
going to get
away with
doing a
church plant
without patience
and getting
inheritance?
Think again.
It's faith and
patience.
It's not just
faith.
I know faith is
the more sexier
one.
That's the one
we like to talk
about, but that's
not what it
says.
There were people
who inherited
promises.
And he says,
hey, I'm
telling you these
things so you
don't be sluggish.
There are those
who are, but you
need to be
imitators of
those who through
faith and
patience inherit
the promise.
Who is the
person in your
life that you've
seen has patience
and faith to
inherit promises
that you're
imitating?
Okay?
I want to finish the
end of this message
with three examples
of three men in
my life that I
have sought to
emulate and try
to explain this
with more
practicality so you
can get kind of
vision for this.
Okay?
I had three
different men in
my life that
fathered me and
that I really
sought to emulate.
I tried to do
2 Timothy 3.10.
I follow their
teaching, their
conduct, their aim
in life, way of
life, faith,
patience, love,
steadfastness.
You know, notice
that.
He says he
followed Paul's
patience.
It's that same
word.
Okay?
First man who
poured himself
into me, followed
his teaching.
This man may or
may not be in
this room.
Followed his
teaching.
Followed the way
he did family.
I even got to
live with his
family.
Okay?
Followed his
teaching, followed
his family, followed
the fact that he had
an open home.
I learned so much
about what it
looked like to
have an open
home.
Followed his
generosity.
Followed his
ministry style.
Followed his
self-sacrifice, his
ability to sacrifice
his life, him and
his wife and their
family.
Life wasn't a
meeting-centric
thing.
It was all of
life.
They never turned
it on and off.
It was just an
always kind of
thing.
Really followed
that not letting
people look down
because they're
young and believed
in that teaching.
Really tried to
follow that.
Okay?
And tried to
imitate it as
much as possible.
And there's been
great.
There are still
things to this
day that I've
heard people in
this room encourage
me about or say
they like about.
And it's just
because I imitated
it from someone
many, many years
ago and I'm still
imitating it to
this day.
Right?
It was something
that I saw in
somebody else and
absorbed those
nutrients from
someone.
And does that
mean that every
single thing that
that person did,
I wanted to do
everything the way
they did?
No.
There were some
things they did
differently.
There were some
things, but I
couldn't just say,
well, I just want
this and that and
then I'm not going
to do this and
that.
I have to imitate
everything.
And so now
afterwards, many
years later, there's
some things I do
differently.
There's a lot of
things I do the
same.
Okay?
During that time, I
lived in kind of
church office life.
I don't do the
church office life
anymore.
Okay?
I was glad I
imitated it for that
period of time.
I learned a lot, but
now later on I think,
you know what?
I'm going to do
things differently
that way.
You know?
Gave myself with
that man to a lot of
short-term missions
trips.
I don't do a lot of
short-term missions
trips right now.
My focus is
different.
But I learned a
lot of doing all
that.
I was taught to
preach without
notes.
Okay?
And that was a
challenge to me.
But I learned how
to do that.
And I'm glad I
learned how to do
that.
But preach with
notes now.
So I learned how
to do that.
Maybe that was
uncomfortable at the
time, but that's the
way he did it.
So I was going to
imitate his way of
life.
He preached without
notes.
I'm going to preach
without notes.
Okay?
Now that I'm older,
figured out my way
and how I do things,
I don't emulate that
part.
But I hope you're
hearing.
There's a lot of
the other stuff I've
emulated over the
years.
And that's what
happens.
But my point is,
when you emulate a
man, when you
imitate a man, you
don't just imitate all
the things that you
really like.
You imitate all of
the things, except
for sin.
You don't imitate
anybody's sin.
Okay?
No one's advocating
for that.
But you're imitating
their way of life
because you're
absorbing the
nutrients.
Okay?
I had a second man
who poured himself
into my life.
I followed his
teaching.
He had a gift of
faith.
I recognized that
early on in my
Christian life that
I had a gift of
faith too.
But mine was very
immature.
His was much more
mature.
This guy made me feel
uncomfortable all the
time.
He's constantly, he
was constantly, his
faith was constantly
10 feet further than
mine was.
And so I would spend
time with him.
And I purposely tried
to get as much time
with him as I could.
And I tried to do
what he was doing.
And it was always
uncomfortable because he
had way more faith to
me.
But like, I want to be
faith.
I want to have faith
like you do.
So I'm going to do
this, even though it's
uncomfortable.
So I followed his
faith.
I followed his
patience.
This guy was very, much
more patient than I
was.
He was willing to wait a
long time.
He was a Kansas farmer
and he knew about
patience.
I followed his
hearing of God's
voice.
I learned a lot about
hearing God's voice.
I followed his open
home example as well.
His obedience to God
at all costs.
His ministry style.
His prayer and
fasting.
He was one of the
first guys I ever
met who fasted on a
regular basis.
I was like, okay, I'm
going to start doing
that.
I didn't even know that
was a thing.
But this guy fasted on a
regular basis.
So I said, when you
fast, let me know.
I'm going to fast with
you.
I wanted to imitate him.
I wanted to learn what
it meant to have a
regular fasting life.
I fasted sometimes, but I
didn't have a regular
rhythm.
This guy had a regular
rhythm of fasting, so I
imitated it.
His thinking outside of
the box I followed.
His tent making.
He did other things to
raise funds because he
didn't have enough in
support of what he had.
So I did that with him.
He would work on cars and
fix up cars.
And so he asked me, I'm
like, hey, I want to spend
time with you.
I want to learn through
you, so I'll work with
you.
And they were sanding
cars.
He put Bondo on these old
wreck cars.
And it was one of the
worst things I've ever
done in all work jobs I've
ever done in my entire
life.
I could, I hate it.
It's just sanding and he
said, okay, now do it
again.
Do it with a different
grit.
And I'm like, okay, I'm
done with that.
He's like, okay, do it
again with this grit.
And I'm like, this is
ridiculous.
Who does this?
But I just wanted to be
with him.
I want to learn from his
work ethic.
I wanted to absorb the
nutrients of his work
ethic and his way of
life.
So I did it.
Even though I didn't
like it, even though I
didn't want to do that.
I did it because I wanted
to learn from the man.
Right?
Now, there's other
things I did.
Maybe I wasn't super
excited about him, but I
did it.
And I learned from, you
know, one thing you would
do is you would always do
these crosswalks.
You'd pray and he'd hold
a cross and he'd walk
around them.
I'd always do that with
them.
I'd walk around and people
cuss me out while I'm
carrying this cross through
Boulder, Colorado.
And we're getting, you
know, sometimes it's a
little weird, but I'm
like, I want to emulate
his way of life.
I'm doing this with
them.
I don't do that anymore.
I don't do crosswalks
anymore.
But I don't regret that
I did that with him.
Right?
He was part of a
parachurch.
I'm not a big fan of
parachurch organizations for
the most part, but he was
part of parachurch.
So I was part of the
parachurch with them.
I learned from it.
And at the time I didn't
have strong convictions
about it, but I just
wanted to learn from
him.
He would do a lot of
dramas, human video kind
of things.
And I was all in on
that.
You know, I don't do
that nowadays, but I
did.
I did a lot of that
stuff.
And I'm glad I did.
I learned a lot from
that man.
Third guy poured his
life into me, learned
from his teaching, taught
me a lot about the
kingdom.
Very much emphasis on
the kingdom of God.
It was huge for me.
Shaped a lot of things I
teach today.
Taught me about
apostleship.
I learned from his
gift of apostleship, learned
from his teaching and
apostleship, learned from
his affection.
I'm a northerner from
Wisconsin.
People aren't as
naturally affectionate
there.
And affection has been a
hard thing for me over
the years.
But I saw from him the
power of affection.
I saw from him the
impact of affection.
He was always hugging
people.
I saw people cry when he
would come up to them
and just hug them.
Multiple times.
I'm like, I don't know
what that is, but I need
that.
So I tried to imitate him
and emulate him, even
though that wasn't my
natural MO.
Right?
I learned a lot about
affection from him.
I learned a lot about
fathering from him.
Church planting.
He was a church
planter, so I learned
from him and tried to
imitate his way of doing
it.
I learned a lot about
confidence and calling
and gifting.
Sometimes I would feel
really uncomfortable with
him because he'd come
into rooms with other
men and he would be so
confident in his gifting.
I'm thinking, bro, you
need to chill.
You know, like, these
guys have way bigger
ministries than you.
They're way bigger dogs
than you, and you're
coming in here thinking
like, you're going to
source them.
I'm like, I don't know
about this.
And he would.
It was crazy.
Because he knew who he
was.
So I learned a lot
from him.
And I was like, okay, I
got to go out of my
uncomfortability and be
confident.
Learned from his tent
making.
Worked with him.
Saw him raise funds
through businesses.
Then there's certain
things I do with him
that I'm not emulating
now, many years later.
But in the time I did,
there was a way he did
translocal ministry that
I imitated that I don't
do today.
He was a lot more
charismatic in a more
extreme way, I would say.
I'm charismatic and
believe in those things,
but it was a lot more
extreme than I am today.
But I emulated that in
the time.
I don't as much anymore
on some of those things.
I used a lot more
covenant language than I
don't right now.
And I was into house
churches, and I gave
myself to house churches
for nine years with him.
And I don't do house
churches anymore.
But I submitted to the
man.
I imitated the man.
And I absorbed the
nutrients of those three
men, and it's been
hugely invaluable to me.
There's going to be
people in your life, men
and women, you're going
to say, you know, I
want to imitate them.
And there's going to be
some parts of their life
you're going to say,
these ones may be, I
don't know if I would do
it this way.
But don't knock it till
you try it kind of thing.
You're going to have to
jump in and absorb.
Get in there.
In conclusion, imitation and
example are the way.
Can't be fatherless fruit
pickers.
Who are you imitating?
Whose ways and traditions
are you following?
Are you bending your
culture, ways, and
traditions to a church or
leaders?
Or are you expecting,
maybe even demanding,
that the church bend its
culture, ways, and
traditions to yours?
Who's following you?
Who's following your
example?
And is the example you're
setting, one that people
would want to follow?
Or one that people are
following?
Your speech, your conduct,
your faith, your love, your
purity.
We need fathers and sons
whose example can and
should be imitated.
Amen?
We need a crazy pretend.
And we need a
cleft message.