Commonplace – Imitators of Jesus

In my early teens, imprinted merchandise with the letters WWJD, a summary of the question, “What would Jesus do,’ was cool. I remember watching programs on TV, TBN to be specific, where beautifully imprinted bracelets, shoes and T-shirts with those letters would be advertised. I wished, back then, that I could have owned one of those bracelets so instead, I would write WWJD on the inside of my notebooks as a way to join in the cool craze. I rarely hear this phrase these days, but I often think about it as I do life because cool or not, it’s an important question I believe every follower of Jesus ought to ask themselves as they show up in the world.

As soon as my son Caleb could talk, whenever he wanted to be lifted, he would cry out, “Hold me!” instead of, “Carry me!” I am not sure where in the world he got that from but it was strange and hilarious to hear him say that. For some reason, I never felt the need to correct him but even my mom would laugh at his romantic-sounding demand for her to hold him. When Caleb’s younger sister came along, I noticed that as soon as she could speak, whenever she wanted to be lifted, she would cry in the same unfamiliar funny way, “Hold me!” She turns four in a few days and what started as being funny and out of place, is now commonplace. No one laughed at Chiara when she first started saying this because we had gotten it out of our system with Caleb. Hearing my daughter ask me to hold her the other day, got me thinking though… Have I ever made something I say or do so commonplace that another human being has taken that on as their reality, knowing and accepting nothing else?

“Be imitators of God in everything you do, for then you will represent your Father as His beloved sons and daughters. And continue to walk surrendered to the extravagant love of Christ, for He surrendered His life as a sacrifice for us. His great love for us was pleasing to God, like an aroma of adoration—a sweet healing fragrance.” ~ Ephesians 5:1-2 (TPT)

“Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.” ~ 1 John 2:6

Our ability to transform our regular expressions into commonplace conditions for those around us is one that we don’t often think about because we rarely think of ourselves as living in a glass house with an audience watching our every move and listening to our every word. Becoming a parent can sometimes make us aware of this reality because when we have children, those adorable little eyes are watching every single move we make and their little ears which may even resemble ours, are listening to everything we say and more especially, how we say it. Caleb’s expression of his desire to be ‘held,’ inevitably passing down to his sister may not be as significant as both my children inheriting the tone with which I speak to their father, but it is a reminder that both the significant and insignificant things we do and say get picked up on and may become commonplace for those whom God entrusts to us. 

Asking ourselves the question, “What would Jesus do?” is a beautiful way to make room for the Holy Spirit to guide our everyday expressions no matter how insignificant we think they may be. After all, we are supposed to do everything as unto the Lord and we can’t possibly do this without our Beloved Helper. How can we partner with the Holy Spirit to make our daily expressions an opportunity for beautiful commonplace conditions for others? Well, this isn’t an all-inclusive list and it is not one that I can claim to have mastered or become an expert in, but it is certainly a great place we can all start.

We can watch how we speak

Colossians 4:6 tells us to let our speech should always be with grace. It is not enough to just say what we feel or think, the words we choose to use and the tone with which we communicate those words matter too. I think anyone can be sweet and respectful to someone who is in authority over them, but a true test is when you are the one in the leadership position, how do you speak to people you are in authority over? Your wife, your children, your employees, your house help or your driver? Are your words to these always with grace? Words of affirmation are my love language and so words are very important to me. I am also of mixed race so the tone with which I speak can sometimes come off as being rude to people who didn’t grow up in the same cultural context I did. I have had to learn to temper my volume, tone and even how I gesticulate when to honour those to whom I am speaking because my words are my worship to God.

The demand for grace applies also to gossip. Has our habit of sharing other people’s news without their permission become such a commonplace expression that we have made it one for those around us? What would Jesus do if He had the information we have? What does Jesus do with all the juicy details He knows about our lives? Let us use our verbal expressions to allow God to minister to others by watching how we speak.

We can think about others

Being selfish is so celebrated these days. Number one must always come first and it’s even what we’re teaching our children. ‘Me, myself and I,’ coupled with ‘Imma get mines,’ seems to be what is ruling our lives instead of the Word of God. Philippians 2:3 has made God’s opinion very clear when it comes to living our lives with the thoughts of others. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. It’s surprising how surprising it is to people when you begin to live this out. It has truly become commonplace for us to keep to our little bubble which is not at all how we live as representatives of our Father. Think about how you can be a blessing to someone else today and every day. It doesn’t have to cost money, it can be a smile or a kind gesture. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, He will give you creative ways of how you can show up for others and make that the new normal.

We can break down stereotypes

Stereotypes are divisive. A Stereotype is a widely held fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. We have all acted by certain stereotypical beliefs we’ve had about one thing or another. Unfortunately, when we do this, we are choosing to make our simple-minded thinking commonplace, rather than the truth of God’s Word. Choosing to change our thinking and break down stereotypes concerning race, tribal background, church denominations, gender, age, marital status and more, can be a huge step in making the love of Christ what is commonplace. Jesus went out of His way to break down the stereotypes of his culture and He is calling us to do the same today.

Ask yourself, “Have I ever made something I say or do so commonplace that another human being has taken that on as their reality knowing and accepting nothing else?” Then take it a step further by evaluating whether those new normal commonplace conditions you are exposing others to are in line with the character of our Father. If you are like me, some of them are and some of them aren’t. Continue to do those things that make the love of Christ more commonplace. Do them with more intentionality and enthusiasm. Then for the things that are in opposition to the character of the one to whom we belong, repent and ask for the grace to make the necessary changes. Let the attitude of being quick to repent also become commonplace for you.