Adult Bible Study Online

Witness in daily life

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Lesson text: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
By: Leo Hartshorn
Email: cleohart@aol.com

As an artist I have a drawing table where I sit each day and do my work. My six-year-old grandson, Gavin, likes to watch me draw. He is a budding artist himself. One day he gathered up his clipboard of paper and stack of colored pencils; then he grabbed a wooden TV tray and set up his drawing table right behind me. The sight of him sitting right behind me drawing reminded me of how much he imitates what I do and the responsibility I have to provide a good example for him.

In probably one of the earliest written books of the New Testament, the apostle Paul reminds the Thessalonians that they "became imitators of us and of the Lord" (1:6 NRSV). Long before the "imitation of Christ" (imitation Christi) became practically synonymous with the monastic devotional book by Thomas á Kempis, Paul encouraged Christians to imitate Christ and himself. "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ," Paul admonished (1 Corinthians 11:1 NRSV). Model your lives after Christ and those who seek to reflect the life of Christ in their own.

We all learn first by imitation. Artists, like my grandson, learn by copying artists. Novice musicians imitate masters. All artists learn first by imitating others until they become models themselves. The Thessalonian church had become a model or witness to other Christians in their world.

In our increasingly secular, postmodern society in which the credibility of Christianity has been marred by scandals, bad examples, divisiveness, exclusiveness, violence, oppression, racism, bigotry, and xenophobia, there is a desperate need for authentic models of Christianity, both individuals and faith communities. Granted, we cannot simply repeat what Christ, or even his followers, did in their time. But, when we model the kind of life Christ lived, or live in the spirit of Christ in our own world and time, we will be witnesses to Christ through our lives to those around us.

Whom do you imitate? Who imitates you? How is the church imitating Jesus this year?

Pastor, artist, and drummer Leo Hartshorn is our ABS Online writer for Summer 2010. He served as minister of peace and justice for Mennonite Mission Network, Mennonite Church USA, 2002-2009. Leo is also co-founder and co-director of Drumming for Peace, an organization that teaches and witnesses publicly for peace through drumming, rhythm, storytelling, and music.

Leo holds a doctorate from Lancaster Theological Seminary with a focus on Anabaptist preaching. His dissertation, Interpretation and Preaching as Communal and Dialogical Practices: An Anabaptist Perspective, was published in 2006. As an artist, Leo is currently working on drawing and painting. His artwork is posted at Artisans of Socials Change.

Leo is married to Iris de Leon-Hartshorn, the executive conference minister of Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference. They have three adult children and are raising their six-year-old grandson.

This message relates to the Adult Bible Study. For additional information on Adult Bible Study or Adult Bible Study Teacher, send email to info@mpn.net. To order either publication call Mennonite Publishing Network at 1 800 245-7894.