Our Job: Being a Good Example
March 28, 2011
Dear Friends,
The first recorded words out of God’s mouth were “Let there be light: and there was light.” (Gen. 1:3) The Apostle John, speaking about the new creation in Christ, says that Jesus “was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (John 1:9) When John says “true light”, he means that Jesus was the real light of which the natural light of the Genesis creation was only a figure. How was Jesus the “real light?” It means, as it is expressed in Hebrews 1:3 that “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” (NIV) When we look at Jesus, we behold all the qualities of God expressed in a man. Amazingly though, Jesus says that we, his disciples, “are the light of the world.” (Mt. 5:14) We are to be the same shining examples to the world.
Similarly, Jesus was the Word made flesh. This means that Jesus was the embodiment of all that God had been trying to tell us all along. God had been telling us about love, truth, grace, obedience, sacrifice and so forth for thousands of years, but in Jesus He showed us everything He had been trying to say. Jesus, like the prophets before him, didn’t just come and tell us what God wanted us to say, but he gave us a perfect example of what God was saying. We have this same mission. We are to be the word of God in action to mankind. Discipleship is not just about knowing the word (the Bible), it about knowing the Word (Jesus) and thereby living it in such a way as to convince others through your example to know him in the same way.
These metaphors – the light and the word – are just two metaphors of many that teach us that Jesus was the perfect example of godly behavior and that we, as disciples, are to follow in his path by doing the same. As Francis of Assisi famously said, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
Being a good example is about balance. Jesus was a good Bible student. Jesus took care of the poor. Jesus was a preacher. Jesus was a role model. Jesus was a person to whom you could look for advice. Jesus was well-rounded. Jesus showed us what God required. Do you see the point? Jesus wasn’t 99% Bible student and 1% helper of poor. He wasn’t 75% preacher, 15% role model and 10% person to look to for advice. Jesus was balanced. He possessed all of these things in full measure. Although we will never achieve perfection this side of immortality, we are to attempt to do the same. We cannot become malformed disciples who only perform one or two acts of discipleship.
I recall several years ago a brother came to visit and he spoke about the importance of Bible study. He spoke about the many, many hours he dedicated to reading and study. He said that when he went on a family vacation, he would stay in the room hour on end and pour over his Bible while the family enjoyed themselves on the beach. I recall how many in the audience gazed starry-eyed at this great demonstration of virtue and the young men dreamed that they too might one day achieve this level of holiness. I, on the other hand, thought “Are you kidding me? This man has an opportunity to spend quality time with his family and instead spends it locked in a hotel room reading. That’s not right.” Yes, reading your Bible is a virtuous activity, but it is no less virtuous to spend quality time with your family, or visit the sick, or take care of the poor, or work at the ecclesial hall, etc. This brother, in my estimation, had become a caricature of discipleship. His total emphasis on Bible study while ignoring the rest of these virtuous activities was inappropriate; to teach others to do the same was misleading. You can’t be a good example if you only do one thing. If you perform only one aspect of discipleship to the exclusion of others, you are then, by default, not a very good example of what well-rounded discipleship is.
It is great to tell people about Jesus and the Kingdom. It is much better if, while we tell them about the Kingdom, we show them. The only way we can truly show them is if we mimic Jesus in all of his activities and display a holistic approach to discipleship. In this way, we help to gain as many for the Kingdom of God as possible.
Have a great week,
Comments»
Hi Kyle,
Good thought for the week. I just wanted to add one thing. I am sure that you have heard these quotes, “You may be the only bible someone reads.” And another, “Preach the Gospel always, if necessary, use words”. Both of these quotes are helpful to me to bring home the point about being an example. I just wanted to share them with you and I would really, really recommend reading the book by Brother Dennis Gillette. “The Genius of Discipleship”. It is an amazing book and will humble the disciple of Christ. Thanks for your thoughts.
Great TFTW, Kyle. For those of us who were not raised in the Truth, John 1 can be a little perplexing as it can be hard to “un-read” misinterprited scriptures. This weeks TFTW does a great job of showing exactly what is being spoken of in John 1.
Thanks for that.