1 Corinthians 11:1-3

1 Corinthians 11:1-3

Become an imitator of me just as I also am of Christ.  And I speak excellently of you all because you all have remembered all things of mine and – just as I handed over to you all – you all hold fast to the traditional instructions.  And I desire you all to have known that Christ is the head of every man, the husband is the head of the wife, and God is the head of Christ.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought

Paul tells us that we should imitate the spiritual people around us.  In fact, Paul doesn’t just give us the instruction to imitate, it is actually a command!  We are supposed to imitate spiritual people around us!  However, the inverse should also be true.  We should expect that people will imitate us, too.  If we are imitating Christ, others should be imitating us!  It is not wrong to imitate other people as they imitate Christ and then expect that people will imitate us as we imitate Christ!  Imitation is just a part of Christianity.  After all, isn’t that what discipleship is all about?

Who are you imitating?  What behavior are you imitating?  Who is imitating you?  What are they imitating?

Second Thought:

In keeping with this theme, look at how Paul begins chapter 11.  He speaks excellently of the Corinthians because they remember the things of him - how he lived and what he taught.  Look at the emphasis that Paul places.  Paul doesn’t praise them because they are brilliant.  He doesn’t praise them because they are especially gifted.  He praises them because they are willing to learn and remember and imitate.

How willing are you to learn and remember?  What does this message mean to people who may not feel particularly brilliant or gifted?

Third Thought:

We now begin a highly controversial section in Paul’s writing.  Some people read this and see it as evidence of Paul’s misogyny and thus receive permission to discredit Paul.  Other people read this and think it is permission to dominate over women.  But we must remember one thing.  Paul puts Jesus in both of these places: leadership and follower.  Jesus is head over the man.  Yet Jesus is also the follower of God.  For the record, notice that Paul does the same thing to men.  Men are the head of the household.  But men are also the followers of Jesus.  You see, there is nothing shameful about being in the place of the follower!  We place so much emphasis on who gets to be in a position of domination that we assume that being in a position to follow is a horrible thing!  But it is not.  The only person to never be in a position of follower is God the Father!  As human beings, the greatest place we can ever be is in a place to follow God.

Are you a follower?  Are you content with following God?  Where has God called you to lead?  Where has God called you to follow?

Passage for Tomorrow: 1 Corinthians 11:1-3