OPEN: What does it mean to be grown up? A group of 5 to 8 year children were asked that question and these were their answers:
David, age 7, said you know you’re grown up when your clothes don’t fit anymore.
Angie (6) said she believed being a grown up meant being able to ride a bike with no training wheels and having no one running along beside.
Amanda (5) …when you can cross the street by yourself, and run your own bath water.
Ronnie (8) …when you get scared in the night and don’t have to run in to mommy’s room.
Lisa (7) …when you are 30
Sherri (6) …when you stop growing old, go to work, be a mom.
Eric (5) …when you have wrinkles on your face & you look in the mirror and say "Oh No!"
APPLY: I suppose there’s a measure of truth in all of those answers, but as we’ve discovered from Scripture over the past 3 weeks, God has His own idea of what it means to grow up. We’ve learned over these past weeks that an ADULT Christian is one who:
1. Seeks to be like their Father in Heaven (be perfect or mature as your Father in Heaven)
2. Seeks to be a “servant” of others
3. Realizes they are a “priest of God” – one who has a job to do, and does it
4. AND LAST WEEK: Someone who seeks to find someone to teach.
I. THIS WEEK we’re going to examine one last trait of a mature, grown up Christian.
In I Corinthians Paul introduces the idea that being an adult means you give others something to imitate. Reread I Cor. 4:12-17.
In this passage we find that Paul wanted the Corinthians to ‘imitate’ him because he was their father figure. The Greek word Paul uses here is “Mimatan” from which we get our words mimic, or imitate. This word “Mimatan” is repeated several times in Scripture and this is an expression of an important Biblical concept.
In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul writes: “FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE, as I follow the example of Christ.”
Again in Philippians 4:9 he advises: “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me— PUT IT INTO PRACTICE. And the God of peace will be with you.”
Peter, in 1 Peter 5:3 tells Elders their job must be to lead “not lording it over those entrusted to you, but BEING EXAMPLES to the flock.”
In case that idea is lost on the rest of the church, God tells them:
Hebrews 13:7 “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and IMITATE THEIR FAITH.”
Philippians 3:17 Join with others in FOLLOWING MY EXAMPLE, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.
So, our objective is to get the point of maturity where we can be examples for others.
II. The most obvious way to become an example is to find a position of responsibility where we can influence others:
* Get involved in Youth Group, Jr. Church or the Nursery
* Teach a Sunday School Class
* Start an in-home Bible Study
One of the projects here at our church that has impressed me for years has been Dave Broad’s “Mentoring” program. As director of our Education Committee, he has chosen several people within the church to work with our teachers in the Sunday School, basically becoming understudies of those who faithfully impart God’s word each Sunday. Paul had told Timothy to do this very thing when he wrote Timothy:
2 Timothy 2:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
SO, if you’re a teacher, or person with a ministry within the church, you should find someone who you can mentor, someone you can train to do what you do.
III. But, this training of others is more than teaching facts and figures.
While teaching about things like…
1. Who were Peter, James and John?
2. Where is Damascus on the map?
3. What did the Tabernacle look like?
...are valuable and worthwhile, that’s not what Paul stressed in I Corinthians 4.
(vs 12) “We work hard with our own hands.” One of things Paul wanted the Corinthians to imitate was his work ethic.
Similarly, Paul wrote the church in Thessalonica: “We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves A MODEL FOR YOU TO FOLLOW.” II Thess. 3:7-9
(vs. 12-13) “… When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.”
Paul wanted the Corinthians to mimic his response to unfair and deceitful people:
a. When he was cursed: blessed
b. When he was persecuted: endured it
c. When he was slandered: answered kindly
These aren’t theological ideas he’s pushing. He’s telling them to emulate his lifestyle. When people are around you, you should also be an example of these things for them.
ILLUS: Too often Christians behave like the motorist at the traffic light that Jay Leno said he stopped behind. On this man’s car was bumper sticker that read “Honk if you love Jesus”
So, Leno lightly tapped the horn on his car.
At this, the man rolled down his window, stuck his head out and yelled back: “The light’s still red, you moron!”
Now you can imagine the effect that type of behavior has on others. That’s why Paul didn’t emphasize that people should copy his teaching style. Instead he stressed they should imitate his lifestyle. Another way of saying it is “It’s good to talk the talk, but it’s better to walk the walk.”
IV. Now there’s one more (very critical) thing that we need to model for others
We need to be an teach a love for God AND a love for His Word
ILLUS: When Abraham Lincoln was growing up, we’re told that his mother had a powerful effect on how he saw God. From age 2 till he was age 9 (when she died) he heard from her repeat to him the stories from the Bible, and repeat to him teachings from the Scripture.
When she was on her deathbed, she called him to her and told him: "I am going away from you, Abraham, and I shall not return. I know you will be a good boy... I want you to live as I have taught you, to love your Heavenly Father and keep His commandments." He promised.
That promise made all the difference in how he eventually led our country thru its darkest hours of the Civil War.
ILLUS: Bob Parsons commented: “My Sunday School teachers didn’t mind telling the same story over and over again. And because they didn’t mind telling it, I loved to hear it.”
V. Too often, people regard the church like they do the Sunday Newspaper.
People buy newspapers to gain information and entertainment (much the same reason many people go to church). That’s because newspapers aren’t “interactive.” There is no way for a reader to directly input information like they would with a computer.
But, newspapers, didn’t used to be that way. Early Newspapers were often passed from person to person. Some papers contained one or more blank pages, which a subscriber could fill in with his own news before sending the newspaper on to friends.
That is the model that God wants His church to be like. He not only wants us to read His Bible, and hear His Word, He wants us to write out in our lives the example others can follow…
In how we work
In how we live
AND in how we love and follow Jesus
CLOSE: A missionary in India was once teaching the Bible to a group of Hindu ladies. Halfway through the lesson, one of the women got up and walked out. A short time later, she came back and listened more intently than ever. At the close of the hour the leader inquired, "Why did you leave the meeting? Weren’t you interested?" "O yes," the Hindu lady replied. "I was so impressed with what you had to say about Christ that I went out to ask your driver whether you really lived the way you talked. When he said you did, I hurried back so I wouldn’t miss out on anything."
Our challenge is to get to the point in our lives when we can say with Paul: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1
OTHER SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Almost Perfect = Matthew 5:43-5:48
The Mature Minister of God = 1 Peter 2:4-2:10
Speaking Like An Adult = Hebrews 5:7-5:14
A Good Imitation = 1 Corinthians 4:12-4:12
