"A LOYAL FOLLOWER" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 5/21/26

“Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” (I Corinthians 11:1)

In Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth, he seeks to confront them and address their issues, as any successful head coach would. Scripture was originally written without chapter divisions, and thus, this verse is best understood to conclude Paul's thoughts in chapter ten. So, in 10:33, Paul described his desire to please everyone in everything he does. Paul did not mean that pleasing other people was his ultimate goal; instead, he had a responsibility to remove anything that might cause others to stumble in their pursuit of faith in Christ. Of course, Paul would not set aside his convictions about Christ or his practices of prayer and preaching, for instance. Beyond those core elements of his faith, however, he was willing to set aside anything he had a right to do in order to lead as many people as possible to faith in Christ.

Now he concludes that thought by calling the Corinthians to follow his pattern for living, just as he follows Jesus' pattern for living. Jesus also set aside living for His own advantage while on earth, including refusing to demand His right to be recognized and honored as the Son of God. Paul followed Christ's example and urged his readers to follow his own. In everything (private, public, and especially in his ministerial service), he sought to do all things to the glory of God, not his own praise, and in doing so, he imitated Christ. Paul would have the church do everything they do for God’s glory and according to His purpose. Paul studied hard to act in a way that would not offend either God or man. In doing so, he was a follower of Christ, who was harmless and inoffensive in everything; so, Paul desired that the congregation should practice Christ’s behavior.

Paul sought not his own pleasure and advantage, but the salvation of others, and this was an imitation of Christ, who similarly didn’t seek personal gratification. So, the Apostle suggests that it would be right for believers not to seek to achieve their own wills in everything, but the Lord’s.

In my house, anywhere Jenn goes, my dog Bonnie is trotting along a couple of steps behind her. She is a dedicated follower, as irritating as Jenn may find it. Another example that I could use is from my favorite movie, ‘The Iron Giant.” In it, the main character, a boy named Hogarth, finds a huge mental monster that crash-landed on Earth. Thankfully, the giant hit its head during the landing, forgetting its mission to destroy but also becoming directionless. It starts following Hogarth around until he has to tell the giant, “You stay. I go. No following.” because he needs to go home. I love this movie for many reasons, but the biggest is because it’s essentially an ‘owner and their dog’ type of story. At times, Hogarth finds the giant’s antics annoying, just as Jenn does with Bonnie, but their devotion is to be admired. This is how we need to be with the Apostle. We need to do everything we can to fully emulate Paul's behavior, who himself strove to replicate Christ.