Brothers and sisters, join together in following my example. Also, learn by watching those who are living the way we showed you. [ERV]Phil 3:17
There are many questions which arise from this portion of Paul’s letter before us.
Two Gems ago I left you with some macro questions. Keep these in mind:
- Why does Paul now turn to the enemies of Christ?
- What does he mean by ‘the enemies of Christ’?
- Why does Paul suddenly turn from high and lofty thoughts to the enemies of Christ?
- Why then switch suddenly to the positivity of Chapter 4 after a brief interlude on two feuding woman in the church in Philippi?
- Tell me again Ian, how this letter written over 2 millennia ago by a Jew in Palestine is relevant to me in 21st Century NZ?
In the previous Gem I added the WWJD element. Why bring up that in the context of Paul’s letter to the Philippians and all the high and lofty things he had been talking about? Have you seen the connection yet? Surely the connection is back in Philippians 2:5 and having the mind of Christ in you. Thus the perfect practical question is: WWJD? What would Jesus do? Allow me to make the connections for you if you don’t see it clearly. Do you remember in the passage before the one above (Phil 3:10-16)? Paul reminded us of the single-mindedness of a sportsperson and then the challenge for us also to be focused on “the one thing”. What “one thing”? The end of the race! Oh not the temporal end of the race; but the high goal that Paul had been focused on since Phil 1:23:- to attain to the resurrection from the dead and to win the goal of the Life of the Age to Come. Now we are getting things in perspective. If you are not of the same mind (the mind of Christ), may God show those of you who are other-minded by way of a revelation of the Truth. Is it all coming back to you now? Have I made the connections clear enough?
Now Paul writes ‘Keep imitating me, my friends.’ Wow, that is a bold statement to make. It is not imitate me as I imitate Christ; or follow me as I follow Christ. (1 Cor 4:16, 11:1). This one is just plain “Imitate Me!”:
Be fellow-imitators of me, brothers, and consider those walking this way, even as you have us for a pattern. (LITV) Phil 3:17
This one statement or verse is divided into three parts:
- Become [συμμιμηται] (sum-mimiētai) fellow imitators my brothers (and sisters);
- [Σκοπειτε] (skopeite) {consider / take aim} at those who do thus;
- {Walking / following} just as though {having / following} our [τύπον] (tupon) {pattern, die or example}
Imitators of who? Imitators of me says Paul. Here I am an example of one who follows Christ and one who has the mind of Christ. Imitate me. I told you in Gem 1982 of my first mentor, Reg Ackland. I didn’t need to be told the THEORY of being a Christian or a follower of Christ. I needed someone to show me what following Christ meant. Reg was the one who started me off. After those first months extending into a couple of years when I was surrounded with Navigator followers who showed me what it meant to have a Quiet Time, pray and read the Bible and apply it to my life. We all know the best lessons are learned from someone who shows us what to do. That is what Paul is talking about. Do you want to see what following Christ and having the mind of Christ is all about? “Look at me” says Paul.
But then he added ‘Others of us”. Actually what Paul wrote was “scope out those who do this”, who exemplify this attitude. The verb [skopeo] is from the same family as [skopos] (goal) as in the end of the race. But in this case the focus is like the target; take aim at – that which you are aiming at is all those who imitate having the mind of Christ. Who is Paul talking about? Do you forget so quickly?
- Paul
- Timothy
- Epaphroditus.
i.e. Paul and all those who follow Christ.
Paul has been writing this letter while having the mind of Christ in his sights. He has stacked up the examples for the Philippians in this letter to them. Look around! If you want someone to follow who has the mind of Christ, here are some examples . . . We all have those people around us. Scope them out, consider following them as your example of how to have the mind of Christ and become a Christ follower. If you truly don’t know anyone like that, ask God to point them out or bring one across your path. You will find them everywhere.
Paul then added his three fold way of saying follow these people,:- follow them as your pattern, your die, your example. The die in this case is the mould to be used as the exemplar for making other objects like the die or the archetype. The word [tupos] which Paul used has that idea. The example from which you take the pattern. Peter puts it another way with the use of a different word.
For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.
1 Peter 2:21
The word Peter used for “example” was [υπογραμμον] (hupogrammon) which is an interesting word. It refers to the wax tracing of the letter of the alphabet. When children learned to read and write in those times, a wax mould of the letters was made and a child would tracing the letter in the wax moulding in order to learn how to write the letter or the word. Following that Peter gave us the advice of walking in the footsteps of Christ. The word he used in the case was the word [ἴχνος] (ichnos) track or footprint. Like following the trail of someone else and stepping in their tracks or footprints as you follow. Many ethnic groups (like the Waorani (Auca)) talk of being a Jesus follower by following the tracks or the footsteps of one who has walked this trail before them. I am sure I have given you a sufficient number of ways of looking at this idea of following someone who becomes your example. Seek them out and even ask if they will mentor you. Not just give you some fleeting one-off advice but actually allow you to follow in their footsteps as they point the way. On-going mentoring! That is the concept behind what I have developed in the Deeper Bible course. Having someone who will show you how to follow Christ or to dig into God’s Word.
It is a Life Truth that a mentor cannot take you further than they have gone themselves. But it is also true that God will bring into your life someone else who will lead you on the next trail of the journey. It may come with a person who God brings into your life, but it could also be through a book which you come across at the right moment or a course you are able to take. However the best kind of mentoring happens person to person. That is what the idea of disciple, being a disciple and discipling someone else is all about. Showing someone else how to follow in Christ’s footsteps when the footprints of Christ Himself have long gone. But the world is filled with His followers; go find one. Or on the other hand if you are a follower of Christ, a Christian, go find someone to mentor and show them how to follow in Christ’s footsteps.
The astute ones among will realised I have switched the metaphor and gone from head to toe. But that is only because I went to Peter’s use of example where the root word changed. Allow me swtich you back again to the head and back into line with the metaphor Paul used of having the mind of Christ.
He went into hell, came out with the lock and keys and announced, ‘I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.’ He is your example.
Bob Gass
If you are not leading by example, you simply aren’t leading. If you want to build people, give them an example to follow.
Rick Warren
A sequential discipleship process is needed to turn attenders into disciples and then into disciplers of others. That’s found in a church, or it should be.
Ian Vail
The Jesus Model: Jesus loved everyone, fed 5,000, trained 70, discipled 12, and mentored 3.
Ian Vail
After Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, died, Lorne Sanny, his successor, and the leadership team often asked “What would Daws have done? (in this situation)”. After some time they realised that they could not answer that question. None of them knew what Trotman would have done, had he been alive. So I wonder if the WWJD question is also somewhat flawed. We do not (and cannot?) know what Jesus would have done in any situation. Should the question be “What would Jesus have me do?”
Yea that is perhaps a better question Allan, but we do know the principles Jesus would have followed in this case, while it is true that Jesus was somewhat unpredictable, the principles hold true.