Be More Like Jesus

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha! Anyone growing up watching the Brady Bunch remembers that line. Jan seemed to never be able to compete with her older sister Marsha. It was made in funnier on the Very Brady spoof movie where Grandma (Florance Henderson) comes to visit and says something to the effect of “Marsha, you’re so pretty!,… And Jan, isn’t Marsha beautiful?”

I think anyone who has siblings can identify with poor Jan. You’re always being compared to your brothers and sisters. Any of us would hear it. My sister was 1st Chair in band and all A’s. And, my little brother was compared to me.

But sometimes we aspire to be like our older siblings. I remember thinking my older brothers were so cool. They had motorcycles, fast cars, and every teacher in school knew them. I would only get told I was just like my brother when I got in trouble, but good or bad, back then I really looked up to them.

I’m sure every single person with a brother or sister has experienced sibling rivalry. It goes all the way back to Cain and Able.

Now picture you’re James, the brother of Jesus. Oh my gosh. Could you ever imagine what that was like? If you think Jan Brady had it bad, how many times would you hear “Why can’t you be more like your brother Jesus?”

Wow, you could never play Farris Bueller and tell mom you were (cough, cough) sick on a school day with a big test that you wanted to get out of.

“Jesus, come heal your brother. He’s sick again!”

Everybody would invite your brother to parties.

“Jesus, I brought 10 gallons of water to the party… do your stuff!”

Grocery day would be better that double coupons at the Kroger’s when Mom would only need to buy a couple fishes and loaves at the market and let Jesus do the rest.

And constantly you’d hear “why can’t you be more like your brother, Jesus!” Oh my gosh, they wrote an entire book about how to be more like your brother.

It says in John 4:3-5 :

3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

James couldn’t even use his name instead of yelling Marsha, Marsha, Marsha; number three on the Commandments says you can’t do that!

But James did look up to his brother. He was one of the early ones Jesus revealed himself to after he had risen. He really did want to be more like Jesus. In Galatians 2:9, Paul says James is one of the 3 Pillars of the early Church in Jerusalem. James wanted so much to defend his brother’s teachings he died for them.

We all need to be more like our brother Jesus. There’s even a name for it; it’s called being a Christian.

Lots of people say their Christian but living it is the harder thing to do. To be Christlike, first you have to learn how. And yes, just as I had joked about with the story of James, there really is a book on how to be more like Jesus. What a best seller it is. Just since the dawn of the printing press it is estimated there were 5 Billion copies of the bible made, with an untold number being written before that. And it is still the best seller with 20 million copies sold just in the US each year.

So yes, the instructions on how to be more like Jesus is out there. That doesn’t even include all the books written to teach you more about the Bible. Jesus is the most documented person in the history of our planet.

But just owning a Bible isn’t going to do it. It doesn’t read itself. We have to study.

John 1:1 (ESV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 (ESV)

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Once you learn, then you have to live it. Now that you learn it, you need to employ the lessons and try to mimic Christ in your actions and words.