Recently, I was struck by something I saw at church. I was on stage as part of the band and I saw a woman standing next to her son. As she raised her hands, clapped, and so on, her son kept a laser focus on her and followed her actions as close as he could. I later found out the boy was non-verbal autistic.
What struck me is that even in spite of a rather severe learning and processing disability, he could watch his mom and follow what she did. She helped him clap to the rhythm, swayed back and forth with him, and made sure that she was participating in worship in a way that provided a model and example he could follow.
Throughout the New Testament epistles, we see several examples of imitation in the Christian life. 1 Thessalonians uses imitation in the context of suffering persecution (1:6 and 2:14). In Philippians, Paul encourages imitation in perseverance (3:17). Hebrews emphasizes perseverance as well (6:12). 1 Corinthians uses it both in calls for perseverance and sanctification (4:16) and in calls for proper worship practices (11:1). Similarly, Ephesians stresses imitation in sanctification (5:1).
It is easy to see how important imitation can be and thus how important a good model is. As I return to thinking about that boy and his mom, I’m reminded how helpful it can be if our teaching is not just through words, but through action, emotion, and posture as well. When those around us are unable to process our words, whether they be infants, mentally handicapped, or just a language barrier, they still can imitate us.
As we go about our days and specifically as we attend our churches, let us always remember that there are other people watching us. They may never hear a word we say, but they can see how we respond, they can hear the emotion in our singing, they can watch our reactions to song. Let us strive to be models worth imitating and let us imitate those who have saints that have come before us.