Sermon Cloud

Introduction

Our culture places tremendous value on freedom and independence. We pride ourself on living by our own standards. We reject outside authority and we despise conformity. We just want to be free to be ourselves, and we don’t want anyone telling us who we ought to be or defining our boundaries for us.

At least that’s what we say. But that’s not really how we live. Truth be told, it seems as though imitation is in our nature. We look to other people who we admire and we try to make ourselves like them. How else do you explain the success of celebrity endorsements? Companies pay celebrities millions of dollars to attach their name and face to a particular product. Why? Because people who were previously uninterested in a product suddenly become interested when someone they admire uses it. The product can be anything: a car, a brand of cereal, a pair of sneakers, or even a lean-mean-fat-grilling machine. Because we are imitators by nature what you are selling is not as important as who’s selling it.

This is seen in the success of iTunes and the iTunes celebrity playlists. People log onto iTunes and click on their celebrity of choice to find out what music they listen to. And even though the song might be something that I’ve never heard or from a genre of music I don’t generally listen to, I download it because my favorite celebrity recommends it. Our culture lives in self-contradiction. We say that we want to be free to be ourselves, but our whole culture thrives off of our instinct to imitate others.

What’s funny is that it is often those who are most vocal about resisting conformity that are the most extreme conformists. For example, the hippies of the 60’s rejected authority and traditional institutions yet they all dressed the same, spoke the same, and listened to the same music and now they themselves are in positions of authority and participate in traditional institutions. Today’s hip-hop culture is all about expressing yourself and being original yet we all wear the same Timberland boots, the same loose jeans, and the same baggy t-shirt or hooded sweatshirt with the butter leather on top. People in the E-Mo crowd despise conformity to culture but if you go to an E-Mo concert you won’t be able to tell one person from the next. If you can, please tell me how! Even those who are most vocal about freedom and autonomy imitate those who they admire because imitation is in our nature.

So the question is not “as I develop who I am will I imitate someone else,” the question is “as I develop who I am who will I imitate?” Because regardless of our age we are still maturing, we are still in the process of becoming. “Becoming.” I want to zone in on that word for a while. Who are we becoming? Who will we become? Whether we are young or old this is a question we all ask ourselves. Who am I becoming? And you see as all of us grow, as all of us mature, as all of us move forward in this process of becoming we have in our minds a picture of who we want to become. This picture of who we want to be plays a significant role in the decisions that we make, the direction our life takes, the way we spend our time, and the people we surround ourselves with, among other things. What we usually don’t think about is that picture we carry in our minds, that picture that we aim for, that picture of who we want to be is usually a composite of several different people who we admire, or a reaction to people we despise. It is not a wholly unique, original, picture that we have created out of nothing. It is a picture of who we want to be that is shaped by the people we do and do not want to be like.

This is true of all of us. This is why MTV has created a show called Becoming that allows everyday people to “become” their favorite superstar for a day. They dress like them, they get made up like them. Now, most of us won’t go to that extreme unless we’re pre-teen idol worshipers or psycho adult groupies (and I’ve known many of them in my day -- they really are psycho). But though that doesn’t describe us (I hope) we are all hoping to become like the person we picture in our mind and that picture has been shaped by people we admire, or as a reaction to people we despise.

So who is that person for you? Who are the people who have shaped your picture of the person you want to become? Is it shaped by someone you admire? Is it a reaction to someone you despise? How has that picture influenced your values, your decisions, your choice of friends? Think about those questions as together we examine the concept of “becoming” in Scripture.

Theme Reviewed

Turn with me, if you will, to the book of Galatians. If you’ve been here at all in the last two months then you will remember that Paul has written this letter to churches that he founded in the Roman province of Galatia. These Galatians were former pagans who converted to Jesus Christ when they heard Paul preach the Gospel. They became free. But...these Galatians have recently come under the influence of a group of Jewish Christians known as the Judaizers and are in danger of becoming enslaved. These Judaizers are telling the Galatians that it is not enough for them to convert to Christ. If they wish to be part of the people of God they must become Jewish by obeying the law of Moses, being circumcised and keeping Jewish custom, and observing Jewish feasts and holy days. And the Galatians are beginning to listen. So Paul’s letter is written to warn the Galatians: do not listen to the Judaizers! Do not become like them. Paul has argued again and again in this letter that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is liberating but the gospel of man is enslaving. The Gospel of man makes us become slaves to external control because we must meet certain standards in order to be acceptable to God, it makes us become slaves to pressure because we must meet those standards in order to please God, and it makes us become slaves to human walls of division because only certain types of people can become part of the people of God. The Gospel of Christ, on the other hand, liberates us from all of these things and more. We become liberated from external control because we are led by the Spirit rather than a written code, we become liberated from the pressure to perform because God accepts us based on what Jesus accomplished rather than what we accomplish, and we become free from human division because anyone and everyone can become part of the people of God through faith in Jesus Christ and faith in Jesus Christ alone.

As we’ve read through this letter together we’ve seen that Paul has become quite angry. And he has made several different arguments to show the Galatians why they must not turn from his gospel. First, he made his argument from theology showing that the Cross accomplished all that was necessary to reconcile man to God. Second, he made his argument from his own experience showing that he did not receive his gospel from man but from God himself. Third, he appealed to the Galatian’s personal experience showing that they received the Spirit of God and saw miracles of God before they had any opportunity to obey the Law. Fourth, he made his argument from history showing that as far back as Abraham God has accepted people based on faith and faith alone. Now he is making his final argument. This one is a very emotional argument that appeals to Paul’s relationship with the Galatians and deals with this idea of becoming. Let’s read this final argument together beginning in Galatians 4 verse 12 and going through verse 20.

I Became Like You

Paul begins his argument by reminding the Galatians: “I became like you.” I became like you. These four little words are significant. It is because of these four words that the Galatians listened to Paul’s message to begin with. Because he became like them.

What does this mean? Does this mean that Paul became a pagan? No...and yes. No, he did not become like them in that he did not worship their gods, he did not turn from the revelation of the True God, he did not participate in immoral acts. But yes, he did become like them in every other way that he could. He became like them in every way that he could without offending or ceasing to worship the One True God, Jesus Christ. Though he was Jewish he went to where they were and lived among them like a Gentile. He became like them. And this is not something that he only did with the Galatians. Paul’s whole philosophy of ministry could almost be summed up in these four words: I became like you.

He wrote more about how and why he does this in another letter, this one to the church in Corinth. These are his words from 1Corinthians 9:19-23. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel that I might share in its blessings.

I became like you. Paul became like the Galatians for the sake of the Gospel. He became like them in order to identify with them, to earn their ear, and to communicate the Gospel to them effectively. For Paul, this was another reason why the Galatians should remember the Gospel he preached and not abandon it for the gospel of the Judaizers, who were demanding that the Galatians become like them. For us, it is a reminder to become like those who we wish to reach with the Gospel.

Like Paul, we must become like those we are trying to reach. Simply declaring the Gospel is not enough. We must demonstrate the Gospel. And one way that we do that is by willingly giving up our own rights, our own comforts, and our own preferences in order to identify with our audience and earn their hearing. For Paul that meant living like a Gentile, including abandoning the Law, among other things. For us it will look differently depending on our context.

For a church elder I recently met it meant changing the way his entire church functioned. This man is in his 70’s and from a traditional Presbyterian church. He and the other elders at the church have recognized a problem: they are not reaching people under 35. And because they love people and they love Jesus and his Gospel they are not satisfied with that. So they are taking steps to change their communication style, change their worship style, change their liturgy, and connect with younger adults in their community. Now they enjoy and prefer church the way they have always done it. But they are giving up their own rights, comforts, and preferences in order to identify with young adults who need to hear the Gospel.

For a family I recently encountered it meant moving away from everything they loved and moving into everything they hated. They were living the American dream: in their mid 30’s, a happy marriage, healthy children, and a safe and comfortable home in the suburbs. But though they loved their life in the suburbs they saw people hurting in the inner-city and in desperate need of the Gospel. So they sold their comfortable home, moved their children out of good schools, and took up residence in the inner-city where life would be less comfortable, more expensive, and more dangerous. They hated the idea of living in the inner-city but they gave up their own rights, their own comforts, and their own preferences in order to identify with people in the city who need to hear the Gospel.

That’s what it meant for them. What does it mean for you? What does it look like for you to become like the people God has called you to? Who are you to become like? How are you to become like them? Whatever your answer, I can tell you from experience that it will be costly, it will be uncomfortable, it will be challenging. But we have been freed for this very purpose. We have been given the freedom to become. We have been given the freedom to become like others for the cause of the Gospel.

Become Like Me

Paul became like the Galatians and he is now asking them to become like him. In verse 12 he says, “I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me.” This is a shocking request to make. It could be misinterpreted as arrogant or self-righteous. But it is not. Paul has earned the right to say this because, remember, he first became like them. And because he became like them he earned their respect and he earned credibility with them. So much so that this passage says that they welcomed him as though he were an angel of God, as if he were Jesus Christ himself. But somewhere along the line they began to lose their way. They began to turn from the freedom they found in Christ to the slavery forced upon them by the Judaizers. And Paul is desperate for them to return to the true Gospel and true freedom. So he reminds them, “I became like you, now become like me.”

The Galatians were becoming like Paul -- but they were becoming like Paul was before his conversion. They were making themselves slaves to the law, as he used to be as a Pharisee. They were making themselves slaves to nationalism, as he used to be as a nationalistic Jew. They were trusting in their own righteousness, as he used to do as one who was zealous for the commandments of God. Paul says “no, become like I am. Become like I was when you received me as though I was Jesus Christ himself. I have abandoned the Law, because it enslaves. I have abandoned nationalism, because God accepts people based on faith not race. I have abandoned my own righteousness, because only Christ’s righteousness is sufficient. Become like me and stop trusting in your own righteousness, turn to Christ and not to the Law. Become like me and experience true freedom. Become like me because I became like you.”

This is not arrogance. This is not self-righteousness. This is sound advice. Paul was aiming for the prize. He was aiming for Christ: to know him and to become like him. If the Galatians wanted to know Jesus and if they wanted to become like Jesus they had a picture of what that looked like in Paul. They could look at his life as a picture of what they could become and how they could become. In Paul they could see what it meant to rely on Christ and not on self or law. In Paul they could see what it meant to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh or in religious code.

Who do you look to for that picture of who and what you can become? I am not asking who you look to to find an example of how to be a religious Christian who looks great on the outside. I am asking, “who do you look to as an example of how to trust in Christ and walk in the Spirit”? Is there someone in history who you imitate and aim to become like? Is there someone in your own life who you imitate and aim to become like? Imitation is not a bad thing. It is a good thing if the one you are imitating is a picture of who and what we ought to become as ambassadors of Jesus Christ. We should all examine those pictures in our mind of who and what we are aiming to become. We should be sure that we are imitating the right people. We must not be like the Galatians who were imitating the Judaizers when they should have been imitating Paul. Our hope is to be like Paul. Where we are so focused on Christ -- knowing him and becoming like him -- that we can say to each other, “become like me because I became like you.”

We Become Like Jesus

That was the message Paul lived and I hope that is the message that we live. But that is not the whole message. The whole message of Paul in this passage is, “become like me because I became like you so that we all can become like Jesus.” And that, I hope, is how we will not only declare but demonstrate the Gospel of Christ as a church. Become like me because I became like you so that we all can become like Jesus. Paul says in verse 19, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” The imagery here is of Paul as a mother and the Galatians as a fetus. And the fetus is not yet fully developed, it is not yet ready for birth. It needs an extended period of gestation in order to have Christ fully formed in it. And Paul is going through pregnancy pains trying to help this process along. “I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.”

Until Christ is formed in you. That is our aim. That is why we become like others . That is why we call others to become like us. So that we can see Christ formed in all of us. That we might know him and become like him. The goal of the Christian life is not to have religion formed in us, or church formed in us, or morality formed in us. It is not to have any thing formed in us. It is to have a person -- Jesus Christ -- formed in us. And that person is the fullness of love, the fullness of truth, and the fullness of power. That person is the fullness of righteousness, and faithfulness, and obedience. That person is humble, and patient, and self-sacrificing. That person lived life in the Spirit, and in faith, and grace. That person is Jesus Christ, the God-man, and the aim of our life is to become like him. The aim of our life is to see Christ form himself in our moral life, Christ form himself in our spiritual life, Christ form himself in our decisions, Christ form himself in our work, Christ form himself in all that we are that we would be newly created individuals who form a newly created community that will play our role in bringing about a newly created universe. That is what it means to have Christ formed in us. He is the perfect picture of who we want to become. So Paul says to the Galatians, “become like me because I became like you so that we might become like Jesus.”

Conclusion

This is a declaration we should make and a demonstration we should imitate. It was the demonstration of Jesus himself. Being fully God he made himself man. He became like us. He gave up all of his rights as Lord and King of the Universe and allowed himself to be limited by human nature. He became like us. Being the only True Authority he submitted himself to the authorities of this world and allowed them to unjustly condemn him and execute him. He became like us. He became like us so that we could become like him. He gave his life in our place so that we could be restored to a proper relationship with the One True God. He became like us so that we could become like him. He rose from the dead so that we could be free from death as he is free from death. He became like us so that we could become like him. He fills us and seals us with his Holy Spirit so that we can live like him. He became like us so that we could become like him.

We saw last week that if we do put our faith and hope in Jesus Christ -- and not in our own righteousness, or our religion, or our politics, or humanity -- that we become children of God. And if we are children of God we will become like our Father. We will see Christ formed in us. Not because we are good, but because he is good. Through the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are given the freedom to become like others, to call others to become like us, and to become like Jesus himself.

So maybe it is appropriate to ask ourselves again: who do you want to become? Who has shaped your picture of who you want to be? And how is this picture impacting your values, your decisions, your choice of work, your choice of friends? Think about it as we pray.