Imitating Christ
How does a thorough analysis of the life of Jesus’ (imitation) ethical approach found in Scripture reveal the ways in which it shapes and informs the moral framework of individuals within the Christian faith, and what scholarly insights and contemporary relevance can be drawn from this analysis?
Commentary:
This one, I got the word count issue sorted out! All in all, I am pretty happy with this assignment. The key feedback I received was that the link between my analysis and my insights needs to be less abrupt and more organic.
Ultimately, the result was a High Distinction: 85%.
Abstract
To imitate Jesus is not about translating the decisions that might be made in a context contemporary in Palestine 2000 years ago. To emulate Jesus in our contemporary society today requires that we understand the moral virtues of Jesus and adopt them as our own. The ethics of love, service (servanthood) and sacrifice (bearing his cross) are characteristics that can be broadly applied to any ethical decision. It is vital to understand what is meant by each ethic before they can be applied. Love is best understood in Christ’s seeking of the good of others both physically and spiritually. His ethic of servanthood is demonstrated by the act of washing the disciples’ feet together with his explanatory remarks around servant leadership at that time. His ethic of sacrifice is most evident in the sacrifice of the cross with its broader implications for all of humanity. Understanding these ethics allows us to apply the principles of love, service and sacrifice as virtues we emulate.
Introduction
Any contemporary ethical framework based on imitating Jesus, wrestles with the difference in context between the dilemmas that faced our Lord 2000 years ago, and those we face today[1]. Jesus clearly expected people to follow his lead. Matthew’s gospel (16:24-26)[2] contains an implicit caution from Jesus for those who follow his lead. This was because Jesus expected people to follow him, and he wanted people to count the cost of doing so (Luke 14:28-29). Paul referenced his following of Jesus as an example for his readers (1 Cor 11:1; Eph 5:1). The question therefore arises as to just what it means to imitate Jesus today. How do we apply an ethical framework of “what would Jesus do?”
What would Jesus Do?
In the Bible, imitation as a principle, is rarely about precisely copying. Paul, for example, does not imitate Messiah precisely in every aspect of his apostolic service. He certainly does not seem to recommend literal crucifixion for the people of God[3]. So, what does imitating Christ mean?
Felder provides a framework for imitating Jesus’s ethics as a model for behaviour. He suggests that instead of performing “Jesus acts”, that rather we see things through the lens of Jesus’ experience. He points to three key elements to Jesus’ life that form foundation principles for imitating Christ. These ethical elements are love, servanthood and bearing our cross[4].
Love Ethic
John informs us that Jesus loves because God loves (John 3:16). The love ethic of Jesus is enunciated in Matthew 5:43-48. Love is described as a foundation for “perfection” or completeness (gk teleioi[5]). The core ethic of Jesus life was agape[6]. John in his gospel, reports Jesus commanding us to love as he loved his disciples (Jn 13:34-35; 15:12).
Agape “is not an impulse from the feelings, … it seeks the welfare of all… seeks opportunity to do good to all men…”[7]. Importantly, agape is evidenced in activity[8].
Jesus’ active agape (love) both in a practical and an emotional sense is visible in his compassion to Zacchaeus (Luke 19:3-5), in his love towards Lazarus and his family (Jn 11:32-36) and in the sacrifice of the Cross (Jn 3:16).
Applying Love Today
The symbol of the cross, is of Jesus dying between two thieves where the outcasts belong, outside the city[9]. This is a most powerful, and practical symbol of Christ’s love. Agape is an expression of God’s love towards humans, provoking love to God, to other Christians and importantly, to those who are not Christians to help them to find God[10].
We are encouraged in Ephesians to live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us (Eph 5:1-2). Practically, this love seeks the ultimate good of others[11], is inclusive[12], disregards the cost to ourselves (Rom 5:8) and is completely vulnerable[13]. In this, it is not a utilitarian ethic for it doesn’t seek the good of the majority to the exclusion of a minority, instead it seeks the good of all because Christians adopt the virtue of being like Jesus who sacrificed in love for all (1 Jn 2:10[14]; Jn 3:16).
Servanthood Ethic
Isaiah 52:13 (cf. chapter 53) describes Jesus as the suffering servant and thus establishes the servanthood ethic that complements his love ethic. Jesus came to serve others (Matt 20:28) and his love underpins his servanthood[15]. Jesus taught servitude in the washing of the disciples’ feet (Jn 13:3-17). Matthew (20:25-28) describes Jesus’ ethic about service in leadership in that leaders must serve.
The ultimate act of servitude is displayed by Jesus in the Cross (Mk 8:31; 10:45)[16] in that he became the burden bearer for the world’s sins.
Being a Servant
The only means of obtaining salvation is through faith in the work of Jesus Christ. We cannot “earn” salvation by being a servant to the world about us, nevertheless, engaging in service to others is an important aspect of imitating Jesus; in essence, we need to serve because we have been saved.[17]
Living the servant ethic today, practically, is more about attitude than what one does although acts of service are important (Eph 5:21)[18]. For example, the term ministry[19] is diakonia or service. Regardless of the arena of service including in church or secular leadership, for the Christian, all service has eternal meaning.[20]
It denies wealth, power and glory in favour of self-giving love and service with a concern for the physical and spiritual well-being of others[21]. Ultimately, we look to the good of others, as servants [22], taking our lead from Jesus who took on himself the form of a servant (Phil 2:5-8).
Bearing our Cross Ethic
Jesus sacrificed himself to make us righteous (2 Cor 5:21). The synoptic gospels render identically, Jesus’ admonition to bear our cross[23]. Rather than reserving it for the disciples alone, importantly, Jesus calls the crowd to hear this message (Mk 8:34)[24]. John reframes and increases the focus of the message to “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (Jn 12:25). He adds further context by speaking of a seed dying and producing grain (Jn 12:24-26). This is a powerful image of the sacrifice of Jesus producing an overwhelming harvest. It is also linked to Jesus’ other ethic of love and implicitly with servanthood in the upper room, in “My commandment is this – to love one another just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this – that one lays down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:12-14)[25]. Bonhoeffer[26] argues, “the passion of Christ is the victory of divine love over the powers of evil, and therefore it is the only supportable basis for Christian obedience [in sacrifice].”
Bearing our Cross as Disciples
Jesus sacrificed in love in dying for his friends and clearly, for his enemies.[27]
Bearing our Cross is not an “optional extra” for discipleship, it is central to discipleship[28]. John (12:24-26), as noted in the foregoing, captures the essence of the synoptic gospels on this subject and expands it. Distilled, the ethic of sacrifice asserts that, “to be a disciple of Jesus is to renounce yourself and accept a lifestyle of personal death [self-denial]”[29]. Bonhoeffer[30], quoted in Felder[31], writes “self-denial is never just a series of isolated acts of mortification or asceticism… to deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self…”.
Discipleship in bearing one’s cross means holiness or separation from the world, an active suffering, but with the aim to equip us for service and humility.[32] This better suits us for living as God wills that we live – full of love and self-giving.[33] It is a willingness to face death, or to at the very least, lose everything for Jesus’ sake.[34]
Insights
Charles Sheldon’s 1890’s novel “In His Steps” suggests that any “genuine, honest and enlightened Christian” could figure out what the saviour portrayed in the Gospels would do.[35] The phrase, “what would Jesus do”, could probably be traced to Thomas à Kempis in the 1400s[36]. Felder refers to this as a recent movement[37], and in a sense it is in that it was revived in the 1990s among certain Christian groups. Lovin remarks that Sheldon pictures Jesus in 1890’s America.[38] This encapsulates the problem and the opportunity in asking “what would Jesus do?”. As Felder asks, “Do we try to imitate what Jesus actually did, or do we speculate on what Jesus might do in our current situation?”[39]
The problem of this ethic is in trying to find the voice of scripture in a surrounding culture shouting slogans. This is even more difficult in seeking to apply imitatione Christi when Christ himself was surrounded by a very noisy culture.[40] Jesus himself denied expectations. He was not the warlike King who would lead his people in rebellion.[41] Given this level of misinterpretation by the people surrounding him, including his own disciples (Acts 1:6), those who look to imitate Jesus today must carefully consider this in seeking to understand the implicit ethics behind why Jesus acted as he did in specific circumstances.
The “What Would Jesus Do” question or slogan may be fundamentally flawed in that it focuses strongly on the ethics of actions and their accompanying decisions. A virtue ethicist would argue that the moral life is more encapsulated in the emulation of the character of Jesus.[42] This distinction, by its nature goes to a pattern of behaviour rather than imitating a specific action in similar circumstances (assuming that such a direct line could ever be drawn across the intervening centuries). As Lovin asserts, “We can make approximations and increasingly educated guesses….” as to the decisions Jesus might make.[43]
The Chalcedon Formula implies strongly that Jesus was the human being, the epitome of what a human should be.[44] Paul’s request in 1 Cor 11:1 for us to follow him as he follows Christ, was a request that we as Christians should seek to adopt the character or personality of Jesus, in similar fashion to the earlier command of Leviticus 19:2; 20:26 as subsequently quoted by Peter (1 Pet 1:16). Fundamentally, we have an opportunity to adopt a holy or sanctified life in emulation of the holiness of Trinity by emulating the character of the human being, Jesus.
Holiness is clearly a character trait possessed by God and demonstrated in the incarnation with whom we seek a “fellow feeling” (1 Jn 1) to the exclusion of unbelief (2 Cor 6:14-17).
Conclusion
The three principal ethics of Jesus’ life that form a foundation for Christians today are love, service and sacrifice. They are not separate ethics that might be displayed in isolation because each contains more than a scintilla of the other ethics. Imitation of Jesus does not mean trying to guess the Lord’s response to a given set of circumstances, but rather to integrating his character into our lives so that love, service and sacrifice are our own response to such circumstances.
Bibliography
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, and Eric Metaxas. The Cost of Discipleship. New York, United States: Touchstone, 1995. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dtl/detail.action?docID=4934305.
Felder, Kyle D. Exploring Christian Ethics: Biblical Foundations for Morality. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006.
Hood, Jason B. Imitating God in Christ: Recapturing a Biblical Pattern. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013.
Jenks, R. Gregory. Paul and His Mortality : Imitating Christ in the Face of Death. University Park, PA, United States: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2015. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dtl/detail.action?docID=4395077.
Kempis, Thomas a. The Imitation of Christ: Being the Autograph Manuscript of Thomas à Kempis, De Imitatione Christi, Reproduced in Facsimile from the Original Preserved in the Royal Library at Brussels. with an Introd. by Charles Ruelens. Paternoster Row, E.C.: Royal Library, Brussels, 1879.
Lovin, Robin. “In His Steps.” Christ. Century 123.20 (2006): 35–35.
Morden, Peter. The Message of Discipleship : Authentic Followers Of Jesus In Today’s World. La Vergne, United States: IVP, 2018. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bst/detail.action?docID=5580987.
Platt, David. Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream. New York, United States: Multnomah, 2010.
Rae, Scott B. Introducing Christian Ethics. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016.
Stott, John. The Cross of Christ. 3rd Ed. London, England: InterVarsity Press, 2021.
Vanstone, W. H. The Risk of Love. New York, United States: Oxford University Press, 1978.
Vine, W. E. An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Nashville, Tn: Royal Publishers, Inc., 1952.
[1] Kyle D. Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics: Biblical Foundations for Morality (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006), 173.
[2] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved
[3] Jason B. Hood, Imitating God in Christ: Recapturing a Biblical Pattern (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013), 11–12.
[4] Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics, 176.
[5] W. E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (Nashville, Tn: Royal Publishers, Inc., 1952), 847.
[6] Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics, 177.
[7] Vine, Expository Dictionary, 693.
[8] Vine, Expository Dictionary, 693.
[9] John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 3rd Ed. (London, England: InterVarsity Press, 2021), 251.
[10] Vine, Expository Dictionary, 693.
[11] Vine, Expository Dictionary, 693.
[12] Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics, 180.
[13] W. H. Vanstone, The Risk of Love (New York, United States: Oxford University Press, 1978), 67.
[14] The light is Jesus cp 1 Jn 1:1-5
[15] Stott, The Cross of Christ, 319.
[16] Stott, The Cross of Christ, 39.
[17] David Platt, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (New York, United States: Multnomah, 2010), 109–10.
[18] Stott, The Cross of Christ, 334.
[19] Eg in Acts 6:1-6
[20] Scott B. Rae, Introducing Christian Ethics (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2016), 168–69.
[21] Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics, 187.
[22] Stott, The Cross of Christ, 335.
[23] Matt 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-35; Luke 9:23-24
[24] Peter Morden, The Message of Discipleship : Authentic Followers Of Jesus In Today’s World (La Vergne, United States: IVP, 2018), 36, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bst/detail.action?docID=5580987.
[25] R. Gregory Jenks, Paul and His Mortality : Imitating Christ in the Face of Death (University Park, PA, United States: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2015), 144, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dtl/detail.action?docID=4395077.
[26] Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Eric Metaxas, The Cost of Discipleship (New York, United States: Touchstone, 1995), 122, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/dtl/detail.action?docID=4934305.
[27] Jenks, Paul and His Mortality, 144–45.
[28] Morden, The Message of Discipleship, 36.
[29] Jenks, Paul and His Mortality, 142.
[30] Bonhoeffer and Metaxas, The Cost of Discipleship, 72.
[31] Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics, 185.
[32] Bonhoeffer and Metaxas, The Cost of Discipleship, 146.
[33] Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics, 185.
[34] Morden, The Message of Discipleship, 37.
[35] Robin Lovin, “In His Steps,” Christ. Century 123.20 (2006): 35.
[36] Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ: Being the Autograph Manuscript of Thomas à Kempis, De Imitatione Christi, Reproduced in Facsimile from the Original Preserved in the Royal Library at Brussels. with an Introd. by Charles Ruelens (Paternoster Row, E.C.: Royal Library, Brussels, 1879).
[37] Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics, 173.
[38] Lovin, “In His Steps,” 35.
[39] Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics, 173.
[40] Lovin, “In His Steps,” 35.
[41] Morden, The Message of Discipleship, 33–34.
[42] Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics, 174.
[43] Lovin, “In His Steps,” 35.
[44] Felder, Exploring Christian Ethics, 174.
