A few years ago, in our home fellowship, a continuing topic of discussion for a while, was about the attributes of God, why we need them, and how they are a life-giving-imperative in the lives of all Christians everywhere, all day, all night, all the time. One man occasionally argued that we needed to spend our time only in intercession and prayer. He eventually just came straight out and asked, “Why are we spending our time talking about this?!”

i suppose he didn’t exactly see the value of knowing God’s qualities nor did he seem to have an interest in understanding the value of the Lord from another facet besides intercession and prayer. Either way, due to his comment, i was motivated to not only discover as many of God’s attributes as i could, but to also make a list of what was under God’s banner of intimacy, and what our King imparts to us if we’ll take the time to be involved with Him. Yes, that’s right, if we’ll take the time. The Lord shares Himself with us so that we can come into the likeness of the Son. According to Romans 8:29, those who believe in Christ, are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, and being conformed to that image means we take on His attributes. Incidentally, the word “conformed” means to be “pressed and squeezed into shape”, meaning coming into the likeness of the Son of God is not always moonbeams, merry-go-rounds, and candy canes.

One of the things God gives to us of Himself is, what i would call, modeling. God models for us how to act, when and how to have grace, what is His idea of kindness, courtesy, obedience, sacrifice, timing, integrity and privilege to name a few. Also, in the Bible is a host of other characters who model how we should NOT act, what we should NOT do, attitudes we should NOT have, and even some subtle discussions of detrimental intent which opposes righteousness.

i’m Social Porter and this is Outposts, a semi-live broadcast from the broad, gracious deck overlooking the late night cascading Ockluhwahhah River where the trees gently lean over the river’s edge, and every evening is pleasant.

God’s view of things is radically different than ours and that is gross understatement! Yes, He is that much better than us. Instead of using Christ as our model, i believe a large part of our country listens more to the bland and shallow “beautiful people”, or social media where the court of public opinion often decides life and death for people. We are taught what to love and hate based on someone else’s opinion, not our own. Can you believe there is a job position called, “Influencer”? The Oxford Dictionary calls an “influencer”, A person who has the ability to affect the purchasing decisions or behaviors of others due to their authority, knowledge, position, or relationship with their audience. i would never have believed that that would be a paying job position. More often than taking advice from God Himself and His written word, many seem to listen more to any and every celebrity who might appear on a television or radio talk show, with the word “listen” meaning more than simply to hear but to give themselves to and be persuaded by. Ahhh yea, the media seems to have become, what i call, the great discipler.

But, if we’ll listen to and follow after the Lord, being diligent to know Jesus and study the Bible, God has, indeed, extended us all sorts of models: roll models for example. The Lord gave Paul as a roll model. Paul says as much in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” Paul urges us to take note of those whose lives imitate Christ as is pointed out in Hebrews 6:12 “that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

Above that though, Jesus is the ultimate role model. He modeled how to surrender to being obedient to every word which proceeds from the mouth of God. He is THE model whom we should ultimately fashion ourselves and lives after: He is the self-emptying, humble, and obedient Christ of God. Jesus modeled right relationship with God all the way to the cross.

Most of us have parents whom our lives have been modeled after to one degree or another. How many of us have said, myself included, “i’ll never be like …” her or him. Regardless of our declaring who we won’t be like, whoever raised us has imprinted us with their life habits, thinking patterns, goodness and badness, for better or for worse, whether in soaring prosperity or grinding poverty. i think to not have any of our parents attributes is probably inescapable, short of God doing a mighty work in us.

Let me also add, that in following Jesus, getting to know Jesus, listening and being obedient to Jesus, using the life of Christ as our pattern for living, we slowly come into the likeness of the Son. And let me certify, The change that comes with following after the Lord can be radical. On a side note, there is a sequence of special note, repent, believe, and follow, with believe being an imperative verb, meaning “do it now”, not later, not with passivity, more than just telling about it. Do it, take action.. In Mark 1:15, Jesus said repent and believe, and then in Mark 1:16 He said follow.

Speaking for myself, i’ve even had people ask me if i am actually related to my brother or sister because they say i am nothing like them at all. At that, all i can say is God has made me different and my likeness is more of my Savior, and not after my biological family … and for me, i don’t know about you but i do know about me … i consider that miraculous and a wonderful thing.

In the entire New Testament, Jesus modeled unity for the Body of Christ. i heard a man say once, “Unity in Christ was the absolutely necessary evidence of the gospel at work. Redemption that does not redeem, that does not cause a Philemon to accept the runaway slave Onesimus back as a brother in Christ, is merely soft, ugly mush. Redemption that does not actively practice forgiveness, that does not crush “complaining against” and “arguing with” one another in the Christian community, mocks the word of the Lord.” Philippians 2:14-15 “Do all things without complaining and disputing, ¹⁵ that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,”

God extends to us a model of how we should behave ourselves. Jesus modeled the importance of forgiveness by forgiving us who believe; then He takes it further by saying in Matthew 6:14 “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” The Bible also extends to us models of how we should not act, like in Luke 20:20, there were those whom are shown to be of disrepute, where it says “they who pretended to be honest.” The exact word “disrepute” is used twice, Acts 19:27 and again in 1 Corinthians 4:10. Friends, i’ll tell you what, i am absolutely worn out on pretended honesty and the facade, or the deceptive, false appearance of genuine sincerity, where there is no genuineness to it. It’s called “two faced” or double mindedness as in James 1:8 and James 4:8, where our outward behavior doesn’t reflect our true self. Jesus modeled honesty and it wasn’t for nothing. If we want to live in a culture of honor, it would seem honesty is absolutely a main ingredient. Not only did Jesus model grace and honesty for us, He also was the perfect example of good boundaries. Good boundaries make for solid relationships, in fact a distinct lack of boundaries is usually what destroys friendships, and inspires criminal thinking. Hear this! God invented boundaries, they were His idea! He has boundaries as in He will do this and He won’t do that and He expects us to follow His lead.

In Luke 10, Jesus tells a story with six different character types. All are examples of people today as well as at that time in history.

Be honest. Which one are you, the victim in the ditch, the exploiting thieves, the priest and Levite who were concerned some of the victim’s bad ju-ju would get on them, the Samaritan who extended himself to help the victim, or the inn keeper who would help the man, but only for a fee? Which one are you? Can you be honest about that? Which one have you modeled your life after? In the overview of the entire parable, Jesus was also one of the characters, doing more than just helping, but literally giving His life for us. Be honest now … which one of those characters do you think your life is modeled after? After all, the entire idea is to come into the likeness of the Son considering that in the entire universe, Jesus is our only ally, and there’s not another.

One of the most significant models God has given us is the model of marriage. The story of God’s house is one of covenant, family, and God’s house from the beginning. This model starts at Genesis “in the beginning” and concludes in Revelation with “The grace of Christ be upon all God’s people, AMEN.”

God gave us the model of His being personal and relational in how we are to conduct ourselves with Him and each other. There is no indifference about Him. He gave us the 10 sayings, or the 10 commandments, not so much as rules, which we’ve turned them into, but more as to how we are to live in community. For those who get married or are thinking of marriage, Jesus layed out a theme in Mark10:6-12. He gave us a model of what not to do once we ARE married as shown in the decline of Solomon in 1Kings11:1-13. Jesus modeled loyalty, commitment, love, and devotion. And there is a difference between commitment and loyalty, one is an action, the other is a character trait. Think about this: commitment is an act of choosing to dedicate yourself to something, like a goal or relationship, while loyalty is a character trait with the earmarks of dedication and faithfulness to something or someone. God’s love and commitment are most amazingly revealed in the four gospels, in the stars, in all the earth, and from cover to cover in the Bible. God knows the end from the beginning and the character of the cross was worked in the heart of the Son from before the foundations of the world was laid, so from the beginning to the end God models for us marriage as seen in His actions towards us whom He loves.

The Lord gave men a model to draw from on how to treat their wives in Ephesians 5:25, in fact all of Ephesians 5:25-30 IS the model. Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, and friends, that’s no small thing. Now, let me add the unspoken rest of the story. The wife ought not to take advantage and manipulate her husband while he’s busy laying down his life.

1 Timothy 3:2-3 gives men the model on how they should conduct themselves within the marriage and outside the household. Proverbs 12:4 models for women a vision of God’s intent on who she should be to her husband and where it all goes if she is a disgrace. And, of course, we can’t leave out the model woman of Proverbs 31. The story of Ruth is a wonderful story of how women should model themselves, in fact, the same word Boaz used of Ruth’s character, calling her “worthy” or “noble” in Ruth 3:11 is the same used in reference to the Proverbs 31:10 woman, naming her character as someone of great virtue, strength, and courage. Not rules to practice but someone to be. Take action. Be the person God has called you to be, and if you’re not sure what that is, be honest, honorable, and uphold the standards of God while you wait for Him to reveal to you the “what’s next” of your life.

James 1:27 gives us a model of how to act towards widows and orphans, and that we should help the helpless, the orphans and widows. The Lord is generous and we should be as He is, instead we often model ourselves after other people instead of the Lord who modeled a standard for us that we should act like Him. Ephesians 5:1 “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” Jesus revealed to us how children should treat their parents in Luke 2:51-52, we see it outlined again in Ephesians 6:1, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” A poetic model of how to treat our parents is also seen in Proverbs 1:8-9, “My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers.”

Oh my, do you see it all? And that’s just a few of the obvious ones. There are larger concepts of modeling if we also study the themes and narratives of Scripture. God has so amazingly laid out for us the models of how we should conduct ourselves in business, in marriage, in righteousness and holiness. The Lord God Almighty did not commission the book called the Bible to be written just so we could ignore His models for our conduct, character, and conversation.

Above the models of modesty spoken of in 1 Corinthians, or of wisdom in Proverbs and in Matthew, above Paul’s model of stewardship in Colossians, and above multitudes of scriptural models of persistence, diligence, righteous justice, mercy, creativity, faith, and fairness; above all those and hundreds of others which God has given us so we would know what to do and how to act, above all that, the Lord has called us to be models ourselves; models after Jesus. We are to be image AND reflection, meaning not only how we look, but also in how we act. Not that anyone can become Jesus, but we can certainly “set our eyes” on being like Him. Right here, let’s define the idea of “set your eyes upon Jesus”. It means to intentionally focus your attention and affection on Him alone, prioritizing your relationship with Him above all else. It involves trusting Him, aligning your priorities with His standards, and maintaining a Kingdom-minded perspective, especially during trials and temptations. Oh yes, most especially during trials and temptations when we are most vulnerable.  He calls us to become roll models for the world. Yes, you and me.

Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Letting your light shine before men doesn’t mean we go around slamming people with the gospel, it means, and hear this: it means to live a life which has a constant upward pointing to the sovereignty of God, it means possessing peace continually propagated by grace. God grace?

N.T. Wright wrote that, “the path to  God himself is seen in Jesus Christ! That of giving yourself away, of generous love which constantly refuses to take center stage.” You’d be surprised how far your work in the Kingdom will go if you’ll stop putting your name all over it.

God has also revealed to us other models, models of those we should NOT act like, like Balaam, Ahab, Jeroboam who made Israel to sin, or Korah, or Cain. It is very important that we know who NOT to model after, but i believe more importantly, we need to know who we SHOULD model after.

God gave to us His only Son, who was, in the flesh, the reflection of the Father in Heaven. Jesus said in John 14:9 “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” and John 8:19, “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”  In other words, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen Him, and if you know me, you know Him.

Here’s a great question someone asked me once. Who are your heroes? i’ll tell you, i had to really ponder that one. Who have you modeled your life after? Do most of us even know? If we don’t, what can we do to help ourselves become all of what God has called us to be? An’ right there is a big Amen. Think about it.

John 13:14-15, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” Washing feet is more than a towel, pan of water, and scooping the water across someone’s feet. That’s too small and falls far short of what the Lord intended. Go over and mow their lawn, bring your wife coffee in the morning, do the dishes, go clean someone’s house or weed their garden, be consistently kind and graceful to your parents. That kind of stuff is washing feet, that is modeling the character of the Lord. Tell others about the goodness of God instead of the badness of men. Condemnation never liberated anyone from immorality or depression.

The evening has come to a close. Thank you for taking a few moments in time and space to consider with me the possibilities of God’s infinity living in us.

i’m Social Porter and this has been Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation, encouraging us all to look above the platform, over the top of the pulpit, beyond all men, way over beyond the blue and see God, who has modeled life as it should be to a lost and dying world.

This has been brought to you by Living In His Name Ministries, Lawnes and Hattie Gash, Kevin, Tommy, and Perry of the Mebane Freedom League, Azalee Dunbar, Ruben Kandja, Carlota Antonio Cossa in Mozambique, Kyle Walker, Area 22 Guitars, and Trinity Bakers, the sweet spot on main street where there’s always something good in the oven.

Jesus is our model and frame, the singing light who lived and died on our behalf. He gave Himself for us and asks us to give ourselves to Him, to model His heart and life, accomplishing the Heart of the Father that all those who believe in Christ, would come into the likeness of His dear Son, Jesus.

Be strong and courageous, pray for your neighbors, drive carefully, and step into the model of righteousness God has given you the power and authority to do. Be blessed my friends, be blessed.