Saturday, May 8: Follow the Leader!

Almost 30 years after my freshman year at the United States Air Force Academy, I still can vividly remember the rigid requirements of each moment that we were away from the sanctuary of our rooms. We had to be dressed immaculately from the top of the head to the shine on the shoes. We had to walk at attention, saluting everyone who outranked us (that was everyone)! We had five responses to any question: “Yes, sir;” “No, sir;” “No excuse, sir;” “Sir, may I make a statement;” and “Sir, may I ask a question.” We were never to make eye contact with anyone, as we weren’t good enough to look at them. Well, that was until the end of the first year, when we earned that right to look, hear, interact and walk freely. Within a matter of months, the new freshmen would have to endure the same treatment.


I thought it was ridiculous then, and I still think it is ridiculous now. I followed the rules well during my first year, never receiving even a demerit. Yet in the second year, the choice became a more difficult one for me. What had changed in three months? I didn’t like being treated that way as a freshman, and I knew that the new freshmen wouldn’t, either. So rather than scream at them, simply because it had become my right, I treated them with the same respect I would have liked to have been treated. The freshmen loved me, but some of the sophomores didn’t understand why I wasn’t as strict in training as they would prefer.


To this day I still remember many of the quotes we had to memorize. One of them was by Erwin Rommel:


“Be an example to your men in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself and let the troops see that you don’t in your endurance of fatigue and privation. Always be tactful and well-mannered and teach your subordinates to be the same. Avoid excessive sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually indicates a man who has shortcomings of his own to hide.”


It always cracked me up when someone would scream at me to give him Rommel’s quote, about not screaming at people! Ironic!


When we are training others, it should be “do as I do,” rather than “do as I say!” Paul was a great example to others. It wasn’t with pride and arrogance that he said,


16 Therefore I urge you, imitate me.                                                                                                               
1 Corinthians 4:16


and


Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1


Paul knew that because he was following Jesus, he was becoming a reflection of the Lord. If people followed Paul, they would also reflect Jesus.


11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.
3 John 11


12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews 6:12


When we read the Bible, we can see Jesus on every page. Consequently, we can imitate Him. As Christians, we all have people God has placed into our lives who have made great impacts on our walks with the Lord and we can imitate those Christians. But don’t forget, every single man, no matter how strongly he walks with the Lord, will let you down, and God never will let you down. When you are imitating a Christian man, don’t forget that the work in him has not been completed yet, either.