Should We Imitate Christ?
A few decades ago, a trend swept the nation which has been much lampooned since. The phrase, “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD), was plastered all over bracelets, bumper stickers, t-shirts, and anything else on which Evangelicals can make a buck. The phrase and trend caused some concern: Jesus died on the cross to save sinners. Do we also die on the cross to save sinners? This side of glory, will we ever live as blamelessly as Christ did? Jesus is wholly God and wholly man; the rest of us are wholly man and wholly not-God. Could we ever truly imitate him? In essence, to teach the imitation of Christ might endanger the whole idea of the gospel and salvation.
This is why the Marguerite Shuster says, “What we need, and what the NT offers us, is first and foremost, not an example, but a Savior,”1 to which we might similar statements by Alister McGrath.2
The problem with these objections is, of course, that the New Testament repeatedly seems to frame Jesus’ example as the ultimate example.3 Consider the following:
When pointing to his own example for imitation, Paul refers both the Corinthians (1 Cor 11:1) and the Thessalonians (1 Thess 1:6) to the ultimate model presented by Christ. The implication is not only that Paul wants the Corinthians and Thessalonians to imitate Christ, but that he himself is engaged in such imitation!
After writing so poetically about the long line of heroes from Scripture (Hebrews 11:1–40), the author of Hebrews places the example of Christ as the culmination and climax of the example list (Heb 12:1–4). This is no fluke! Consider Hebrews’ statement, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him…” (Heb 5:8–9).
If the four Gospels are in any way parallel to the bioi (ancient biographies) of Greco-Roman literature (and I would argue that Richard Burridge is relatively convincing that there are at least some parallels between the two4), then at least part of the purpose of such documents seems to be to encourage the imitation of their central subject: namely, Jesus. It seems then that the imitation of Christ is at least part of the purpose of the Gospel narratives and teaching.
Many of Paul’s moral imperatives appear to be in reference to the ultimate example that Christ provides. For example, when Paul says that the first fruit of the Spirit is “love” in Galatians 5:22, is there really no relationship to Paul’s statement earlier in the letter, “the life I live I now live in the flesh by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Or consider Paul’s command to the Romans, “Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you” (Rom 15:7).
John’s strong love commandment is funded by Jesus’ example, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34). We could add to this similar statements elsewhere in John’s gospel (John 13:15; 15:12) and first letter (1 John 4:10).
Peter himself connects the atoning work of Christ with the suffering servant song from Isaiah 53 (cf. 1 Pet 2:18–25). The problem is, of course, he does this to give slaves an example to imitate as they themselves suffer. It is hard to avoid the implication that Peter wants slaves (and others) to imitate Christ in their suffering.
Jesus himself, when talking to his disciples about their leadership in his church, gives them the example of the Son of Man who came not to be served, but to serve (Matt 26:20–28; Mark 10:35–45).
In light of all this, it seems clear that the New Testament puts forth Christ as the ultimate example of the Christian life. Imitation is impossible to avoid for honest readers of the Scriptures. The question, then, is not “should we imitate Christ?” but “how should we imitate Christ?” After all, the concerns raised above about the eclipse of the atonement in imitative literature are fair and genuine. If we do not carefully articulate the imitation of Christ, we easily lapse into a kind of works-righteousness. So how can we preserve the gospel and be faithful to the Biblical teaching about the imitation of Christ?
At least three guardrails are helpful to keep in mind when thinking of the imitation of Christ.
When the New Testament authors speak of imitation, they uniformly assume that there is at least some degree of discontinuity between the imitator and the imitated. When Paul says, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor 11:1), Paul is not assuming that the Corinthians are able to become like him in every way. Nor does he assume that he can become like Christ in every way. Jesus’ own statements in Matthew 26:20–28 assume that there is a distinction between the Son of Man (cf. Dan 7:13–14) and his disciples. We should not encourage people to imitate Christ without making this clear.
The New Testament regularly assumes that the imitation of Christ is empowered by the Atonement. A truly Biblical imitatio Christi (imitation of Christ) does not conflate the imitation of Christ with salvation; rather it recognizes that someone can only manifest the Spirit’s fruit of love (Gal 5:22) if they first have received the love of God in Christ on the cross (cf. Gal 2:20). Imitation is a response to Christ’s gracious, saving work in dying for sinners on the cross, not a replacement. Because Christ’s faithfulness has won for us the heart of the new covenant (cf. Jer 31:31–34), so we can imitate his faithfulness.
The New Testament writers assume that the imitation of Christ takes place through union with him. Because we have become sharers in him by faith (Heb 3:14), we can be faithful as he is faithful. If there is no union with Christ, there is no imitation of Jesus.
The imitation of Christ is a Biblical concept. It does not, however, take on the Pelagianism which is present in so much of the kitschy WWJD culture. To that we say, good riddance. But to those who are looking for a reference point for the kind of life that would be pleasing to the Lord, for those who are deeply grateful to all that God has done for them in Christ, to those who desire to cultivate a life of genuine service, to them we say, look “to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb 12:2).
Marguerite Shuster, “The Use and Misuse of the Idea of the Imitation of Christ,” Ex Auditou 14 (1998), 74.
Alister E. McGrath, “In What Way Can Jesus Be a Moral Example for Christians?,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 34.3 (September 1991), 289–298.
Interested readers will find more in my dissertation: Matthew Lewis LaMater, “Imitation and Exemplarity in Hebrews” (PhD diss., Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN, 2024).
Richard Burridge, What are the Gospels? A Comparison with Graeco-Roman Biography (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2020).
I want to end this post with an invitation to two events put on by some friends of mine if you are in New England:
On August 31 at 9 AM, the Gospel Alliance of Maine is putting on a conference on the Imprecatory Psalms. The conference will be held at First Baptist Pittsfield. Register here.
On Saturday September 7, from 9 AM-2 PM, there will be a Men’s Conference at Windsor Christian Fellowship in Windsor, Maine. Register here.
I really like your distinction of “how” to imitate Christ versus “should”. Thanks for this!