5ive2wo

Spiritual Role Models in Christ Jesus

1 Corinthians 4:14-17

Key Verse: 4:15

?Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.?

Before we start the message, how many fathers do we have in this room? So you can relate to this passage very well. This message was particularly difficult to write for me because I am not a father yet and I do not completely understand a father?s heart and love for his children. However through this message we will learn why we should be spiritual fathers and mothers for this generation and practically how to become one. Let?s read 15, ?Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.? Let?s stop and think, ?What is overwhelming quality of a parent? It is their love for their children. Apostle Paul had a father?s heart for the Corinthians and loved them as his dear children. The Corinthians Christians were low class people and they were corrupt, arrogant and immature. Regardless, Paul cared for these people with compassion and love just as Jesus loved him. The beautiful depiction of God?s Father?s heart and love was shown in the parable of the prodigal son. Our Father God loves and cares for us so much that he stands patiently waiting every single day with a broken heart waiting for us his prodigal sons and daughters to return to him. In the past I was a super prodigal son. I was so rebellious and I couldn?t stand my parents? devotion to God. I felt that my parents were overly insensitive, inflexible and too strict. I felt that they could never understand my situation. However their constant prayers, counselling and more importantly their patience enabled me to understand the father?s and mother?s heart. There is a clear distinction between real fathers or mothers and guardians. Their motives are different. A real father and mother care for their children out of love, but guardians cares for children for some other reasons. We must view our bible students as our own children and we must care for them like a father or mother out of love. Many of us act just like legal guardians even towards our own bible students. I must admit that in the past I was guilty of this. By title I was considered a shepherd and I started 1:1 bible studies with Ricardo. Although I did care about his spiritual well being and made sure he knew who Jesus was, I didn?t have a strong sense of responsibility for him. I did not have a genuine shepherd heart. However I am eternally grateful for God who revealed my sins at the YDC conference and opened my spiritual eyes to know that I am a sinner who needs Jesus the good shepherd. After repenting of my lack of shepherd heart and love, now I try to serve Ricardo like a spiritual father and friend. This means going beyond just bible studies, it means I must make some effort to be a part of his life and encourage and endure hardships together in Christ Jesus. We must always keep in mind, ?What is my motive in serving God?s sheep? Is it to gain wealth or honour for ourselves? Is it to look good in the church? Or maybe is it to please your parents, or bible teacher? We must love God?s children with pure hearts as a spiritual father and mother, and give glory to God.

This generation, this world, need more spiritual fathers and mothers. Why? This world is so full of darkness and sin that especially the youth of this generation do not have any spiritual role model to follow. They are lost without direction and hope that is why they are wandering in their sins trying to fill this void in their hearts. Many young people look up to celebrities, singers or athletes as their role models. They wish to be famous and become filthy rich just like them. ?But are these the ideal role models, whom people should look up to?? No. Look at their scandalous lives, they are not truly happy and moreover they are also lost without clear purpose or direction just like everyone else. It?s like a blind person leading another blind person. What we need is spiritual guidance, and a spiritual role model we can look up to. Let?s read verse 16, ?Therefore I urge you to imitate me.? Who in this room can confidently say, ?Imitate me!? Did Paul say this out his self-righteousness or pride? No he stated in 1 Corinthians 11:1, ?Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.? Apostle Paul knew that the Corinthians didn?t have a spiritual role model. Their role models were Greek Philosophers and people of wisdom. Paul wanted them to learn of Jesus by imitating him. The Corinthians did not physically see Jesus with their own eyes therefore they needed a visual role model. Our ultimate goal is to be like Jesus, but many times we do not know how. Although we read the bible and pray daily sometimes we need a visual guide. In order to become a spiritual role model for others we must also have a role model. So let?s think about, ?Who is our visual role model?? My role model is M. Isaac Kim who was shepherd and bible teacher for many years. He shepherded me like a father with compassion and love although I was a difficult sheep. Please seriously think about that one person, it could be your parent, your bible teacher, your friend, your spouse or even your children and be grateful for that person, because through his or her genuine life of faith and fatherly/motherly love for you, you are here right now. Through imitating our visual role models we can imitate Jesus Christ and live a life of serving others sacrificially with compassion and love. This is why we must lead by example and become role models for our family members, our friends and our co-workers so that they can see Jesus through our lives of faith.

Let?s read verse 17, ?For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.? Apostle Paul sent Timothy to the Corinthians because Timothy had learned Christ?s humility and faithfulness from Paul. He loved God?s children purely. Timothy?s real and living example would help them to understand the universal love of Christ. This shows the importance of leading by example. We must practice what we preach, we must love the word and live the word, and we must walk the talk. This means that we as spiritual Fathers and mothers need to be spiritual role models for bible students so that they can practically see how to live a spiritual life themselves. If anyone of us couldn?t find the time to repent for their guardian attitude please do so now and let us pray for each other to be spiritual role models for our bible students and care for them genuinely out of love. Let us first imitate Jesus Christ and serve and care for our sheep with fatherly and motherly love.