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There’s a big difference between liking Jesus 
and being like Jesus.

What is Christlikeness? The simple, theologically sophomoric, definition is a person who has qualities like Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth saying: “…Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ…” Being Christ like says we are a kind, forgiving, sincere, caring and accepting person. 

“…Those who say they live in God should 

live their lives as Jesus did…” 1 John 2:6

Perfect God,  Broken Man.  What forms our  identity as Christians, but the patterns of our lives in direct reflection of the life of Jesus. Consider the early 1900’s  musical lyrics from James Rowe:

🎶Earthly pleasures vainly call me;
I would be like Jesus;
Nothing worldly shall enthrall me;
I would be like Jesus. 
Be like Jesus, this is my song…

Easier said than done. Perhaps it seemed like a good idea in 1900, but is it doable today? What might that look like in 2019? Hint - it looks like servanthood.

In the Hebrew Scriptures, there’s the mandate from the prophet Micah where the Eternal has already made it plain and quite simple as to how to live and  what to do. God is looking for in men and women to do what is fair and just to your neighbor, being compassionate and loyal in your love, and not taking ourself too seriously — but taking God seriously. {1}

It’s also valuable to understand Christ’s words and authority concerning how He lived. Paul writes that when Jesus came to earth He set aside His divine prerogatives and took on the form of a servant. {2} Jesus affirmed His helper way of life in His words to His disciples: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” {3} Those words didn’t just come out of thin air. Jesus was responding to an argument among His disciples about who had the greatest privilege. 

So in my humanness is it even possible to live like Jesus? After all we are broken and fractured. It would be easy to end the discussion with that excuse - I’m flawed and not whole myself. Perhaps that's an end point, maybe. But I’m reminded of the Leonard Cohen anthem: “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in” It's that  light penetrating each of us that makes the difference between liking Jesus and being like Jesus.

#pkes  #MinistryinMotion  #MetroLifeChurch