imitators of Christ; role models in His image
dear friend,
If you don’t already know, hey there, I’m Natalie. As of writing this blog post, I am 20 years old, Anyway, that isn’t necessarily important (sort of). Just know that I am a young adult in college who fairly recently moved from a small, quaint county in Virginia to another small, quaint borough in Pennsylvania.
Along with this move, I’ve had to say many “see you soon’s,” as I believe it would be uber heartbreaking to say goodbye when I’m coming back to visit as much as I can! Some of these see ya laters were reserved for my biological family (you know, those I’ve lived with my entire waking life); others were saved for my church family, aka, the people that helped me to grow and shaped me into the Christ-following woman I am today.
Now, for further background information, I used to go to a *very* small church in Virginia. So small, in fact, that the average attendance was about 30 people every Sunday, most of them parents or grandparents of the retirement age. Now, that didn’t bother me at all, because we were legitimately a little family. Everyone knew everyone, but we were always delighted at the rare occasion of new, friendly faces coming in and even sticking around!
This happened a total of two times, and both of those times just so happened to be right around the time that I was saying my “see you soon’s.” One such family that I have grown to embrace as my own (who I won’t name for obvious reasons) brought their children. And even though I rarely see them, save for the lock-ins and other special occasions, I’ve grown to embrace their children (I used to be the youth leader of my church; yes we are just that small) into the family that is my old church family.
Since I’ve welcomed them, they’ve welcomed me back, and I try to do my very best to be a positive role model when I do get to visit from time to time, as I am the current oldest in my youth group and, therefore, am an influence, especially to their daughters. One of them in particular I grew somewhat closer to before I left to start my life on my own, and I won’t exactly give away her name for privacy reasons; however, I will state that it is very close to Mary, and apparently she is mistaken as being Mary a lot.
I have a point, I swear; please don’t tune out yet!
That being said, a few months ago I was able to attend my churches Candlelight Service on Christmas Eve (fantastic service by the way, highly recommend checking out your local churches for one if you ever get the chance and aren’t busy on that day) and before I left, I was able to speak to said girl. Now, since I’m *very* awkward and introverted and don’t know how to make conversation like a normal human being, I resort to self-deprecating humor (which, trust me, I’m trying to stop with that lol) and/or, my personal favorite, PUNS!
Can you see where this is going?
So, as I’m leaving, I see said girl and I say a pun that has her name in place of the word “Merry” when saying “Merry Christmas.” It just worked out so perfectly and lemme tell ya, the smile on her face was absolutely priceless once the words came out of my mouth.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that noticed.
Shortly after this happened, her dad came up to me after church and told me about how she was grinning from ear-to-ear because of my comment. He also shared with me that, in one way or another, she looks up to me.
Then, very recently, my sister, Kirsten, had a conversation with the girl’s brother. Kirsten asked him if his other sister had enjoyed the lock-in we just hosted for the summer. His response was something along the lines of, “Are you serious? She loved it so much. She talks about you two all the time!”
Oh how joyful and yet terrified my heart was from hearing these things. Because although I love hearing that I’m being looked up to, something inside me is fearful, knowing that I now have a MAJOR impact on such a moldable young person’s life!
I was talking to my mentor yesterday and, as she is the pastor’s wife, she said, “I’m so glad I’m not a pastor.” And you know what? I can’t help but agree with that sentiment. Because even though I feel just a slight amount of pressure from being looked up to from these young people, I cannot even begin to imagine the immense amount of weight that comes along with being a pastor, someone who cares and carries so much. So, shoutout to all the Bible-preaching pastors out there — thank you for showing us how to be strong in the Lord!
Anyway, stories aside, I don’t write all of this to be like “Look at ME, I’M such a GREAT influence on young people!” Nononono, I don’t want you to miss my point here; all I’m saying is this: young people are watching us. No matter if you’re thirteen, eight, seventy-five or, in my case, twenty , someone who looks up to you is watching. Someone is listening, waiting to see something that intrigues them, something that they see and regard as “successful” in their eyes, and something that they can imitate to become successful and to succeed in this world.
And you know what? It makes absolute sense that children will imitate things that they perceive as good, especially when they don’t exactly have a good influence to imitate; naturally, they’ll cling to whatever influences them, whether it be good or bad. However, John tells us as Christ followers,
“Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.”
In saying this, John tells us to imitate Christ!
Paul goes a step further in legitimately saying those words:
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”
When we imitate Christ, those that we are surrounded by will see and feel a difference, especially children, who are so easily influenced by those around them.
Even though this next verse is typically associated with parenthood, let’s all be reminded of what the author of Proverbs writes:
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
However, as an aside, let’s also keep in mind that people. are. FICKLE. And, typically, especially in a younger, unwise person, people will choose something that gratifies the FLESH rather than the SOUL. So, no matter how much you imitate Christ and try to be a good role model for those around you, remember that, ultimately, people will make their own decisions as to what they will and will not choose to do. So, don’t blame yourself or beat yourself up for something a brother or sister has done that isn’t exactly good.
In saying all this, I’d like to challenge you, friend: this week, pick a brother or sister in Christ, preferably one that you are at least acquaintances with, and get to know them a bit better. Set a good example for them so that they will want to imitate you as you are imitating Christ.
And a challenge to any older adults reading this post: this week, make it a priority to become someone’s mentor. I know that, for me personally, my mentor has helped me tremendously all throughout the ups and downs of my life, and if it weren’t for her, I probably would not have such a good, solid relationship with Christ that I do.
I’ll leave the post off with this: without knowing it, other than God, someone is watching you. Someone who is susceptible to copying the way you talk and act watches you and will imitate whatever you do if they hold on to a version of you that they like and therefore want to be like. The next time you make a decision, whether good or bad, make it as though you know someone susceptible is watching. Decide what you do as having a direct impact on those who look up to you, or even just those that you are surrounded with, whether acquaintance, friend, or stranger. Choose wisely!
much love & more,
