Imitation or Imitators

Imitators vs Imitation
Ephesians 5:1-21
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

To the casual observer, an imitation is often difficult to distinguish from the real thing.  Today, it is estimated that 2 to 3 trillion dollars are spent on counterfeit products.  Research reveals that counterfeit products cost U.S. businesses over 300 billion dollars and a loss of more than 75000 jobs per year.  The difficulty is that the counterfeit and the original are almost identical to the casual observer.  However, when an expert looks at them, they can quickly distinguish the counterfeit from the genuine, for they look beyond the superficial and see the hidden differences. For example, one of the giveaways for a counterfeit Rolex is the sound of a slight tick of the second hand.  Because of the precision craftsmanship of a Rolex, the movement will be smooth.

In the Christian life, how do we tell who the imitations are-- those who say they are Christians but, in reality, are charlatans?  What is even more tragic is that we can even fool ourselves into thinking that we are genuine disciples of Christ when we are mere imitations.  Christ warns of this in Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”  In other words, these individuals genuinely thought they were disciples, but in the end, they were mere imitations. The greatest tragedy and the greatest threat to our faith is self-deception. This brings us to the critical question, “How do we discern a spiritual imitation, especially if it is ourselves?”

Paul provides us with the answer in Ephesians 4-5.  The way we live our lives distinguishes the genuine from the imitation.  The imitation becomes an imitator of the world.  In other words, they follow the morality of our world.  Instead of living according to God’s word and His moral law, they follow the morality of our culture that is marked by sensuality and greed (4:19).  We see this in our culture today, where people find their identity in the things of this world:  Success, money, fame, sexuality, pride, self-serving….and the list goes one. Those who follow these things become imitations.  They may say all the right things; they may even claim to be a Christian, but in reality, they are mere pretenders.

In contrast, Paul describes the characteristics of the genuine disciple of Jesus.  The authentic disciple becomes an imitator of God.  The Greek word translated as “imitators” comes from the word from which we derive the word “mimic.”  When a child is young, they often mimic their parents. They see the actions of their parents and try to reciprocate that in their actions.  The imitator is the person who copies the words and behavior of Christ.  If we are genuine disciples of Christ, we will conform to His example so that we live and act as He would live and act.  We are to be holy because He is holy (1 Peter 1:16).  We are to be forgiving because He is forgiving (Eph. 4:32).  Instead of living by our old standards, we are to live in the likeness of Christ, revealing His righteousness and holiness of truth (Eph 4:24).  Instead of living like the world (5:3-5) we are now to live in a way that reflects Christ (5:8-10).  

This new standard calls us to self-examine and be attentive to how we live (vs. 15).  Spend some time today and reflect upon how you live.  Are you living in a way that reflects Christ and His word, or are you living according to the world and culture around us?   If we are forming our morality by the world, we are in danger of being an imitation.  If we are walking in obedience to Christ, then we are imitators so that, in the end, people see Christ in us.