Imitating God in Christ
RECAPTUR ING A BIB LICAL P ATTER N
JASON B. HOOD
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ImitatingGodChrist.indb 4 3/22/13 8:47 AM Contents
Acknowledgments ...... !
Introduction: What Paul Taught Everywhere ...... "
PART ONE: Imitating God # Idols of God ...... #" $ Imitators of God ...... $! % Priests of God ...... &# & Participating in the Work of God ...... &"
PART TWO: Imitating Jesus ' The True Human, the Gospel and the Gospels ...... (# ( Ambassadors, Apprentices and Agents ...... !# ! Family Resemblance and Paternity Tests ...... )% ) Resurrection and Imitation ...... "' " The Holy Spirit ...... #*! #* The Apostle of Imitation ...... ##! ## The Jesus Mirrors ...... #%!
PART THREE: Imitating the Saints #$ A Community of Imitation ...... #'' #% Objections, Obstacles and Presuppositions for Interpretation . . #(%
PART FOUR: Imitation Yesterday and Today #& Imitation for Today’s Left, Right and Center ...... #)% #' A History of Imitation ...... #"%
ImitatingGodChrist.indb 5 3/22/13 8:47 AM Conclusion ...... $*" Author and Subject Index ...... $$# Scripture Index ...... $$'
ImitatingGodChrist.indb 6 3/22/13 8:47 AM Introduction
What Paul Taught Everywhere
When I was in seminary, a friend of mine asked a question about the Bible that changed my life. I’m not much for trivia, but this question struck home: “What does Paul explicitly say that he teaches ‘every- where in every church’?” Paul taught a number of things “everywhere in every church”: Jesus as the Son of David, the atoning death of Jesus on a cross, his resur- rection and enthronement as Lord, justi+cation by faith, the gi, of the Holy Spirit, the unity of the family of God across racial and social lines, the law of love, future judgment at the feet of Jesus. Paul taught these things with enough consistency that we can safely say he never failed to communicate them to his congregations. Yet none of these things is the correct answer. Since my seminary days I’ve asked this question of many students and colleagues, but I’ve never gotten the correct answer from an evangelical.- .e answer is that Paul teaches his own “ways in Christ . . . everywhere in every church” (- Cor /:-0).1 .is statement concludes a paragraph in which Paul describes these “ways in Christ” and contrasts them with the mindset the Corinthians have inherited from the world around them:
For those keeping score at home, “the cross of Christ” is the most popular answer, with Cor : o#en cited. See language similar to “everywhere in every church” in Cor :; :-. 'e ()*’s translation is misleading: “my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” 'e italicized words are added to the Greek; they open up the possibility that it is not Paul’s “ways in Christ” that are taught “everywhere in every church,” but some other teaching with which his “ways” merely agree.
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We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day. (- Cor /:-2--3) By both ancient and contemporary social standards, many of the characteristics Paul presents here are anything but exemplary. In his day (as in our own), working with one’s hands was a shameful, second- class activity to be reserved for slaves if at all possible. What kind of mindset or self-understanding would lead someone to choose to su4er the things Paul describes here? Earlier in this passage Paul states, “I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals” (- Cor /:5). Paul is perhaps describing the apostolic mission here as a march of the condemned, a post-victory parade of captive rebels being marched o4 to a life of slavery or to be fed to beasts or killed in mock battles. Whatever the imagery behind this sentence, it is clear that Paul sees himself and his disciples as part of a grisly display before humanity and the supernatural world alike. Any psychologist worth his or her salt can con+rm that this sort of martyr complex is unhealthy. But it gets worse. Paul is attempting to instill this framework of death in others. He insists that his approach must be duplicated in the lives of Joe and Jane Christian in Corinth: “Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me” (- Cor /:-6--7). As an example, Paul o4ers Timothy. “For this reason I sent you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord” (- Cor /:-0). Timothy is a 8esh- and-blood model who knows and lives the ways of his spiritual father, Paul.3 He displays for the Corinthians what they should have been putting into practice: a sacri+cial, cross-shaped life that re8ects Paul’s
'is label for Timothy should remind the Corinthians of the expectation to become faithful “children” in Cor : and the faithfulness of stewards required in Cor :.
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“ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.” .at’s the answer to our pop quiz: Paul taught his sacri+cial, cross- shaped life “everywhere in every church.” Now if Paul’s cross-shaped life doesn’t come to mind as a likely answer to our question, perhaps it’s simply because this passage is obscure. But while this question may be the stu4 of Bible trivia, there’s nothing trivial about the answer. .is passage cannot be written o4 as an obscure thought, tucked away o4 the beaten path of passages that are more memorable and theologically signi+cant. Paul repeats his cross-shaped résumé throughout his letters to Corinth. Moreover, he insists that he is simply imitating Messiah (- Cor --:-), in line with what Jesus repeatedly taught: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Lk 5:13).
D!"#$#$% I&#'('#)$ When we think of imitation, we typically think of a process that in- volves precise copying. And there is a good bit of rote mimicry in the Bible. God’s people rehearsed creeds, prayers, songs, proverbs, stories, rituals and laws with precision. But because there is very little precise copying of Jesus in the Bible, we sometimes downplay the importance of imitation, pointing out how little we can duplicate the actions of Jesus or other biblical characters with precision. But that is a mistake. In the Bible imitation is rarely about precise copying./ Consider how Paul uses imitation. He does not imitate the Messiah by +shing, wearing his hair in a particular fashion, fasting forty days in the wilderness or collecting precisely a dozen disciples. He rarely speaks Jesus’ native language, Aramaic. Even when he rec- ommends celibacy (- Cor 0), Paul does not appeal to Jesus’ celibate lifestyle as a model. And in turn, when Paul tells the Corinthians to “imitate me as I imitate the Messiah,” he does not mean that they should duplicate his su4erings and sacri+ce. Successful imitation of
“Mimēsis is not about making exact copies. . . . 'e Christian vocation is rather that of cre- ative imitation.” Ke v i n Van ho oz e r, +e Drama of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to Christian +eology (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, ), p. .
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Jesus does not depend on literal cruci+xion, and the Corinthians are not failures if they are never shipwrecked like the apostle they have been instructed to imitate. So apparently Paul does not think that imitate means “copy pre- cisely in every instance” or “copy the speci+c details of my life.” When Paul speaks of imitation, he has in mind the duplication of a pattern, particularly a pattern that conforms to Jesus’ self-denial and cross- bearing. He teaches all of his churches to take his cross-shaped mindset and put it to work. .e present book follows Paul’s lead, using a 8exible and more ex- pansive approach than the word imitation usually brings to mind. In this text imitation refers to actions and mindsets that re8ect the ac- tions and mindsets of another.6 Imitation overlaps with (and is ulti- mately inseparable from) large theological categories of sancti+cation and discipleship, and incorporates example, pattern, paradigm (typos), partaking (1 Pet 3) and participation. It encompasses or en- croaches on verbs like “putting on” or “clothing” (Rom -3:-/). It re- lates to sharing (Rom 9:-0), mirroring, re8ecting, conforming and mortifying (:;< for “putting to death”). We’ll see that imitation is in- volved in the Bible’s discipleship themes of walking and following. As Richard Hays puts it, “To be Jesus’ disciple is to obey his call to bear the cross, thus to be like him. . . . When ‘imitation of Christ’ is under- stood in these terms, the o,en-proposed distinction between disci- pleship and imitation disappears.”7 One important implication of this approach is that we are not limited to studying passages where imitation explicitly appears. If such a broad, 8exible approach to imitation seems objectionable, it
Jimmy Agan delineates various types of imitation in “Toward a Hermeneutic of Imitation: 'e Imitation of Christ in the Didascalia Apostolorum,” Presbyterion (): -. Richard Hays, +e Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation; A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics (New York: HarperOne, ), p. . Je1 Dryden, +eology and Ethics in - Peter: Paraenetic Strategies for Christian Character For- mation (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, ), p. n. , cites Hays and notes that the fre- quently made distinction “between ‘imitation’ and ‘following/discipleship’” is not necessary and in fact can be unhelpful if it leaves readers focusing on only one aspect of the cross, ei- ther vicarious or exemplary. See also James Samra, “A Biblical View of Discipleship,” Biblio- theca Sacra , no. (): -.
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may help to remember that we rarely limit theological concepts to the appearance of one word or word group. .e word disciple does not appear in the New Testament a,er Acts 1-, but no one would think that discipleship is not present a,er that point. A number of im- portant theological terms, such as mission, are labels that are almost entirely absent from the Bible: mission appears once in the =>< and never in the ?@< or =A@<. What’s more, imitation is simply inescapable. From birth to adulthood, imitation drives our behavior and beliefs. Peer pressure, the herd mentality, word of mouth and other social factors and pro- cesses create fresh plausibility structures that facilitate experimen- tation with drugs, religion, facial hair, sushi and new television pro- grams. We rarely adopt a child, try a new diet or engage in fasting and prayer unless exemplars model these actions and the mindsets that make the actions possible. We keep up with the Joneses, sometimes with reckless abandon, sometimes almost subconsciously duplicating their patterns of speech, consumption, dress and recreation. We don’t o,en use the word imitation to describe these phenomena, perhaps in part because we love to think of ourselves as unique and independent actors. But we are all imitators, shaped in a thousand ways by what we see and hear around us.
T*! B))+ ($, '*! T*!-#- While a number of studies focus on the imitation of Jesus or Paul, the concept of imitation does not start with the New Testament. As a result, there are several aspects of imitation we’ll explore in this book. First we’ll explore God’s original design for humans and the imitation of God (chapters --/). Next we’ll address the imitation of Jesus, God’s true image-bearer (chapters 6---). Because God’s redeemed people are being conformed to the character and conduct of God and his Son, we’ll then investigate the imitation of God’s people (chapters -1--3). And +nally we will consider how imitation was used at key points in church history and how imitation applies to various contemporary audiences (chapters -/- -6). .e last chapter, anchored in John’s letters, will use a question-and- answer format to summarize the book’s +ndings.
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.e idea is to progress from the imitation of God to the imitation of Jesus to the imitation of the saints. .ere is a certain narrative shape to our journey, one that follows the course of the canon before concluding with church history and contemporary concerns. .is ap- proach creates a sense of 8ow for those who choose to read straight through the text while simultaneously o4ering a way for pastors and teachers to dip into a chapter that might address a particular passage or a pressing topic. .ese three aspects of imitation—the imitation of God, the imi- tation of his Son and the imitation of the saints—form the backbone of a biblical theology of imitation. .ey are an integral part of the biblical tapestry of humanity, discipleship and mission. But contem- porary discussions of imitation o,en fail to consider the connection among these three aspects of imitation, and as a result the church has struggled with imitation down to the present day.
T*.!! A/,#!$0!- Generally speaking, there are three distinct contemporary approaches to imitation, each with its own problems. Now there are dangers in categorization and generalization, not the least of which is that many Christians do not fall into these categories. So feel free not to +nd yourself here, or to see yourself in more than one category. .e latitudinal “le,” side of Christianity uses the imitation of Jesus liberally, insisting on, say, embracing the marginalized as Jesus did. But this sphere of Christianity o,en misses the gospel basis for the imitation of Jesus, along with important aspects of the broader bib- lical framework. For example, there’s a call in Scripture to imitate a holy, righteous God. As Richard Hays puts it, “Jesus is not only friend of sinners but also prophetic nemesis of the wicked.”0 .en there is the massive “middle” of Christianity, full of WWJD bracelets and “be like” sermons. Here the focus on imitation o,en seems disconnected from God’s work for sinners. In the middle and
Richard Hays, “Response to Richard Burridge’s Imitating Jesus,” Scottish Journal of +eology , no. (): -. Burridge’s book, Imitating Jesus: An Inclusive Approach to New Testa- ment Ethics (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, ), is representative of this sphere.
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the le, the use of imitation eclipses salvation and substitutes for the gospel, so that preaching, teaching and discipleship can become exer- cises in moralism or legalism.9 As with the latitudinal le,, there is a distinct lack of attention to the theological framework for imitation. Healthy approaches to imitation require an emphasis on God’s ini- tiative in salvation and God’s work for us in the gospel. We can also discern a reluctant or resistant “right” that is highly suspicious of any signi+cant emphasis on imitation. In the face of the shortcomings of the le, and the center, reluctance and suspicion can leave imitation downplayed or overlooked in this segment. Reformed scholar Jimmy Agan states, “.e topic of the imitation of Christ—the shaping of Christian character and conduct according to patterns ob- served in the life of Christ—has largely been neglected among Prot- estant and Reformed scholars.”5 Readers will have to determine for themselves whether they fall into the le,, middle, right, more than one location, or nowhere. But as I have surveyed the landscape, these three spheres seem real enough and large enough to warrant referring to them from time to time in order to clarify the implications of this study. All three of these groups have weaknesses, even if all three perhaps have contributions to make when it comes to best prac- tices and critiques. In response to this contemporary confusion and resistance, I suggest that we cannot stay clear of imitation. In short, I offer this text not primarily as a how-to book, but as a book that attempts to answer the question, “What does the Bible say about imitation?”-2 And although from time to time we will ex- plore the contemporary significance of what the Bible teaches, the
See in particular critiques leveled by Will Willimon and Michael Horton. Jimmy Agan, “Toward a Hermeneutic of Imitation: 'e Imitation of Christ in the Didascalia Apostolorum,” Presbyterion (): -. Hays makes the same observation with respect to Protestantism as a whole in “Response to Richard Burridge,” p. . 'is book about the Book employs a number of contested assumptions, including the as- sumption that the Bible is God’s Word, the Christian’s standard of belief and practice, and that the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament is a crucial guide for contemporary in- terpretation. 'e author is aware of hermeneutical issues and contemporary scholarly chal- lenges to such approaches but does not have time to address matters such as the unity of the Bible or the authorship of Ephesians.
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primary goal is to understand imitation on the Bible’s terms, in its categories and configurations.
C)$01/-#)$ It is hard to avoid the impression that the contemporary Christian approach to imitation is a messy battle+eld fraught with landmines. And once an area is labeled as a mine+eld, many believers and pastors no longer tread con+dently on that turf. As a result, imitation is o,en so,-pedaled at best and completely avoided at worst.-- Tempting as it is to neglect or downplay a diBcult concept, we cannot treat imitation like a leper. Healthy, robust Christianity does not happen unless imi- tation has a prominent place in our teaching, preaching, discipleship, counseling, devotion and self-conception. In other words, imitation is not a disease to be avoided but an es- sential aspect of Christianity (in fact, it is an essential aspect of being human) that informs our sense of identity, shapes our disciple- making mission and teaches us about our destiny. As is o,en the case with exploring theological concepts, the quest for a biblical approach to imitation begins at the beginning. Imitation starts with God, who went digging in the mud to make a mirror.
Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, ), p. .
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