1 Corinthians 11:1 Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
There is a power and liberty in the counter-culture of God’s kingdom that most Christian’s rarely tap into. It is freedom from the constraints and expectations of this world. It isn’t that we should not care what others think about us, rather that our singular focus should be to imitate Christ. We give up trust in our abilities and in the systems of this world in order to trust completely in Him. Why do we then, continually return to the world for approval? Over and over, I have seen that many people who influence church culture are desperate for the validation of the world. They imitate the world, desiring its recognition, and unwittingly place upon us the very chains we desperately asked Jesus to remove.
The essence of Christianity is dying to the expectations of the world so that we might be alive through Jesus. It is lived by the conviction that He is the only way, only truth, and only life. This narrow path of life goes in the opposite direction to the broad road that the world beckons us to join. Paul wrote to his spiritual children in Corinth challenging them to lay down the expectations of this world (to be wise, strong, and distinguished) – and to freely accept treatment as the scum of the world.
We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, we are dishonored! To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, brutally treated, and homeless. We do hard work with our own hands. When we are verbally abused, we respond with a blessing. When persecuted, we endure. When people lie about us, we answer with kindness. We have become scum, the garbage of the world. I am not writing these things to shame you, but to correct you as my dear children. I encourage you, then – be imitators of me. 1 Corinthians 4:10 –16
When we make a mistake while dancing to the tune of this world, we are ridiculed and ostracized. It is a game that cannot be won. The world will disappoint us and we will disappoint the world. Jesus says, “Die to this world. Accept that you are dust, dirt, and scum – then let Me breathe life into your unremarkable, disappointing, failure of a life.” Those who exalt themselves are humbled. Those who humble themselves are lifted up. When we expect to be treated as scum, yet receive better – it is amazing. When we realize that we have little to offer and He uses our meager offering for His purposes; it is miraculous. Our witness before the world should not be “look at amazing me” rather, “Amazing Jesus – look at what He is doing with a bit of scum like me.”