Christian Copycat

In Bible Study last week we just finished up our study of St. Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians. During our time together, it struck me how many times the subject of “imitation” is raised in the letter. In this post I’d like to take a brief survey of these references.

Likeness in Jesus Alone?

The first example of imitation and mimicry appears in the very first chapter of the epistle:

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit… – 1 Thessalonians 1:6

This is typically the verse that I reach for when speaking with Christians who object to the Catholic devotion to Saints, and who tell me that “The only person we need to imitate is Jesus”. Clearly, this wasn’t the opinion of St. Paul, who speaks proudly of how his fledgling congregation imitates, not only Lord, but also the senders of this letter (Paul, Timothy and Silas).

In that first chapter Paul describes himself as a nursing mother and a loving father:

But we were gentle… among you, like a nurse taking care of her children… for you know how, like a father with his children – 1 1 Thessalonians 2:7,11

Given these loving parental terms, it’s hardly surprising that the Thessalonians began to imitate the evangelists.

Likeness in example?

However, during our Bible Study I noticed that the theme of imitation moves beyond simple Catholic-Protestant polemics. In the very next verse, Paul indicates that, not only have the Thessalonians been mimicking Paul, they themselves are now the example to follow throughout Greece:

…so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia – 1 Thessalonians 1:7

We now see the beautiful dynamic in the congregation at Thessalonica. As the congregation grows in its faith, the members mimic those who evangelized them and then, in turn, become examples to all those around them. In this way, Christ is reproduced in the life of each Christian throughout the whole world (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Likeness in suffering?

In the second chapter of his epistle, Paul again tells the Thessalonians that they are imitators. Not only are they imitators of the Lord and Paul’s missionary team, they have also become imitators of the Christians in Judea:

For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus which are in Judea; for you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all men – 1 Thessalonians 2:14

When the Thessalonian congregation was founded by Paul, it began in the midst of persecution (Acts 17:1-9), as the very first quotation indicated (“received the word in much affliction“). In fact, Paul and the others had faced persecution in each of the cities they had visited (Acts 16-17:15). Paul says in this letter to the Thessalonians that the persecution they are experiencing is in keeping with what happened to the churches in Judea. When the Gospel first began to be spread in Judea after Pentecost, the Christians were persecuted by their own countrymen. The same is true for the Thessalonians, receiving opposition from their family, friends and neighbours. As it was at the dawn of Christianity, so it is even here years later in Greece.

Not only does Paul say that they’re imitating the Judean churches, Paul points to two other examples of those who were unjustly persecuted. He reminds his readers firstly of the prophets who called God’s people to repentance and who, for their troubles, received persecution and death. Most importantly though, he reminds the Thessalonians of the Lord Himself, who was tortured and put to death unjustly.

Likeness in redemption

As our group was reading 1 Thessalonians, it was about the time when the today’s Christian persecutions in Iraq started to appear in the news. This coloured the way I read these verses. We live in a time where there is genocide being waged against Christians in some parts of the world. In other parts, the persecution is not violent, but no less deliberate. We need to understand that the Christian life is not meant to be comfortable. In fact, to become a Christian means to paint a target on your back. Struggle is inevitable. However, we may be comforted by the fact that we are simply following in the footsteps of those Christians down the centuries and that, with Christ, no suffering is meaningless and can, in fact, be an offering to the Father through the cross of Calvary.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church – 1 Corinthians 1:24