Endure: Building Faith for the Long RunSample

Made to build brick by brick

All of us need people to follow after us who are well into their run of faith. No matter where we are in our spiritual walk—a new believer, a believer for a few decades, or an elder—we need people in our lives who can love and lead us through whatever may come our way. One of the best ways we learn is through imitation—our ability to observe and repeat the action or behavior we have seen.

We are especially adept at this as children. My two kids are always watching and learning. They love to glean information from books and videos and do and say what they hear from me and their mom. They have picked up some rather unique talents as they have watched and imitated me through the years. There will be times at the dinner table when I glance over at my daughter and see that she is eating a hot dog with her toes. Obviously, she has been taking mental notes from her daddy on that one.

We learn best when we can watch and repeat. This is also true when it comes to our faith in Christ. Great benefits come from being taught audibly or through a book, but great benefits and comfort can come from watching others and following what they have done. Paul tells the Corinthian church, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” After telling the church that they ought to do everything in their lives to the glory of God, he then points to his own life as a frame of reference. The church needs more people who love Jesus with their everything to lead others in how we can do the same.

Just as we should be seeking someone to imitate, we should be looking for someone who can imitate us. As we saw at the end of the last chapter, the Great Commission is the command of all believers. Those who follow Jesus are expected to show others the new, amazing life hope that they have in the Savior:

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me

The Christian is deeply passionate about sharing the gospel with those who do not know Jesus as Lord, but that isn’t where the Christian stops. We are people who introduce others to Jesus, but we also walk hand in hand with those who have submitted to Jesus as Lord so they can be shown all that the Christian life entails. Christian maturity comes as a person is poured into, and the picture of someone who is mature in Christ is the person willing to share their life for the maturation of others.