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Discipleship is taught and caught. Good teachers help us follow Jesus as they open up the Bible with us. But we also need examples. People whose lives show us godliness in action. In Philippians 3:17, Paul says, “Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us.” Find those people in your church who exemplify ordinary godliness and pay close attention to their lives.
What kind of example should I pay attention to? What kind of example should I become? Here are four traits of ordinary godliness to pay attention to.
1) Examples of joyful obedience to God
There are different kinds of obedience. The hypocrite in Matthew 6 obeys God to look impressive.“So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people” (Mt 6:2). We can obey God in the way children obey their parents when told to eat broccoli or take out the garbage. We’ll do it because we have to. Or we can obey out of fear of punishment. But the example you want to find and imitate is joyful obedience.
Look for the person who puts the chairs away without being asked and does it with a smile. “Happy are those who keep his decrees/and seek him with all their heart” (Ps 119:2).
2) Examples of fierce commitment to orthodoxy
Orthodoxy refers to right belief. A church filled with nice people and just a sprinkle of heresy is not a godly church. Right belief and godly behaviour go together.
Paul makes this explicit in his letters to Timothy and Titus. As he passes the baton to these two men he doesn’t mince words about how vital sound doctrine is for godly living.
“Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (2 Tim 1:13–14).
Get close to men and women who know their Bible, love doctrine, and are committed to holding the line on the gospel.
3) Examples of love for the local church
Jesus loves the church. His disciples share this love. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).
There are imperfections in every church on this side of heaven. Jesus knows that, and still he calls us to love the church. If he can love our church, so can we. It’s dangerous to sit at a table with people who constantly, maybe even exclusively, talk about the flaws of their church. That’s how pride and bitterness take over.
We need examples like Paul. His letter to the Corinthian church is packed with strong rebukes, but it is bookended by love and thanksgiving. “I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor 1:4). “My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus” (1 Co 16:24). Paul loved the church, even with all her imperfections.
People who love the church help us love Jesus.
4) Examples of humility in receiving correction
How we receive correction says a lot about our character. Even though we do our best to follow Jesus faithfully, there will be times when we are out of step with the gospel. Think about Peter in Antioch (Gal 2:11-14). God, by his grace, gives us the gift of correction to get us back in step.
Sometimes that correction comes when we read our Bible alone, sometimes it comes from hearing a sermon, sometimes over coffee with a friend, or sometimes it comes from an innocent conversation with a child. However it comes, I am grateful because it shows that God is caring for me like a father for a son (Heb 12:7).
I sat beside my pastor once in between services, when a visitor to the church came to him to talk about his sermon. There were a couple of details he intended to correct him on. A pastor’s sermon is precious to him. He spent all week prayerfully putting it together, and here was a visitor, someone he’d never met, offering a correction.
How my pastor responded was a model of receiving correction with humility. He didn’t get defensive or dismissive. He listened well, and even though he didn’t agree with every point he thanked the visitor for his insight, and in the second service acknowledged this conversation with gratitude.
Godly people don’t have it all figured out. Godly people receive correction with humility.
Besides Jesus, there is no single person who is the perfect example. The good news is we don’t need perfect examples. God “uses our imperfect pursuit of His perfection as an example for others," says Darryl Dash. "As others watch you follow Him in your broken life, they’ll learn how to follow Him in their broken lives too.” This collage of imperfect but faithful people pursuing God together is where we find many examples of ordinary godliness.
Pay attention and learn to follow Jesus.
Good points! God bless Ps. Scott