So, are you like Jesus? Am I? How much? How little?
Jesus says it clearly: “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.” So, if we are, in fact, disciples of Jesus, we become imitators of Jesus; we become just like our teacher.
It really is all about imitating Jesus. Yet the problem is that too often we lose sight of this. Or even more, we shy away from it because it can be too challenging. Worshipping Jesus, that’s one thing—relatively easy to do. Following Jesus, imitating him, acting like he did, loving like he did? That is quite another thing!
The philosopher and spiritual write Soren Kierkegaard said that “imitation of Christ is really the point from which the human race shrinks.” He goes on to make this indictment:
The main difficulty lies here; here is where it is really decided whether or not one is willing to accept Christianity. If there is emphasis on this point [of following and imitating Jesus], the stronger the emphasis the fewer the Christians. If there is a scaling down of this point of following and imitating Jesus (so that Christianity becomes, intellectually, a doctrine) more people enter into Christianity. If the point of actually imitating Jesus is abolished completely, then Christianity spreads to such a degree that Christendom and the world are almost indistinguishable.
Ouch! But it is true: When Christianity is reduced to intellectual dogma, there are lots of followers! And they love to fight about who is theologically correct or most accurate and who is a “heretic.” That’s easy to do. And quite self-serving. But when Christianity is actually about imitating Jesus, that is quite another thing.
In our own day, Richard Rohr points out that Jesus says we are to follow him. “But instead of following Jesus, we spent most of our energy worshipping Jesus, but then arguing about the form of worship, when He never said ‘worship me’ to begin with. He said, ‘follow me’. That is an entirely different agenda. Worship of Jesus is rather harmless and risk free; actually following Jesus changes everything.”
Today’s gospel passage makes is clear that Jesus, our teacher, is looking for followers, for imitators. That is his agenda; and if we are followers it is ours too. And how the world needs imitators of Jesus. There are plenty of people, beginning with Trump, who are, as Jesus says, “evil persons” who “out of a store of evil produce evil.” Every day, every hour of every day, he produces more division, hatred, violence, poverty—all signs of evil. And precisely because we are imitators of Jesus, we call that out, just like Jesus called out evil and hypocrisy with his words and gestures.
But, like Jesus, we don’t stop there. We try to show another way, the way of truth and love, by the way we live.
What does it mean to imitate Jesus? Well, for starters:
- Love of all, even our enemies: we desire the good of all, even those who don’t desire our good or who actively work against the good of others. We do all within our power to seek the good of all and work for the common good.
- Forgiveness: we forgive those who offend us, who do wrong. We extend the same mercy God extends to us.
- Special care for the poor, vulnerable, excluded: Like Jesus, we seek out those who are alienated to bring them the love of God, the compassion of God.
- Truth tellers: Like Jesus, we speak the truth at all times. That includes speaking up against injustice and actively working to reduce and eliminate it.
- Complete trust in the love of the Father: Jesus was rooted in the love of his Father—so aware of it that he said he and the Father are one. It was out of that oneness that he lived.
I’m sure we can all think of other ways to imitate Jesus as well. The important thing is, in these challenging days, to truly wake up each day, ready to follow and imitate Jesus in all we say and do.
As Kierkegaard prayed:
Lord Jesus Christ, you did not come to the world to be served and thus not to be admired either, or in that sense worshipped. You yourself were the way and the life—and you have asked only for imitators.If we have dozed off into this infatuation, wake us up, rescue us from this error of wanting to admire or adoringly admire you instead of wanting to follow you and be like you.
Amen to that. Let’s follow Jesus. Let’s be like him. As Rohr says, that changes everything!
Peace and every good,
Father Liam