by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n
“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ<\/em>” (I Corinthians 11:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Jesus gave the great commission to “go into all the world and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded<\/em>” (Matthew 28:18-20). Paul had come to Corinth and called these people to follow the LORD. Part of the duty of every good teacher is to be a role model of such teaching. As Paul would ask elsewhere: “You who teach others, do you not teach yourself?<\/em>” Whether we like it or not, we are examples to others! Paul here acknowledges such responsibility and calls on them to follow his example in following Jesus. This then is not really about such matters of discipleship, for in the end, Jesus is our Master, and it is his <\/b>teaching that we follow.<\/p>\n
This verse is the ending <\/b>conclusion to the section in I Corinthians 10:23-33. This section addresses the problem of eating meat that had been offered to an idol. Eating such meat is not sinful in and of itself, but if it causes a brother to sin, then it is wrong for me to insist on doing it. Paul’s “right” was not considered more important than the salvation of others.<\/p>\n
The aim of all discipleship is to glorify God in all that we do. That includes the willingness to ‘give up’ (or forego) our rights <\/b>and seek ‘that which profits<\/em>‘ others. We are to willingly give up our rights so that others would be saved. Paul here does not ask anyone to do what he wasn’t willing to do (read again Chapter 9!). Paul was, in fact, imitating Jesus in this! He later wrote: “For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me’<\/em>” (Romans 15:3).<\/p>\n
Later, Paul wrote to the Philippians: “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others<\/em>” (Philippians 2:3-4). This he put forth as ‘the mind of Christ’ that we all <\/b>should have (Philippians 2:5).<\/p>\n
We must learn not only to ask “Is it my right?” but also “How does this affect my brother?” Are you willing to forego your rights<\/strong> so that others might be saved?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Hugh DeLong “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1). Jesus gave the great commission to “go into all the world and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1666,1662],"class_list":["post-90243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-example","tag-rights"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":95222,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/look-to-exemplary-disciples\/","url_meta":{"origin":90243,"position":0},"title":"Look to Exemplary Disciples","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier I'm sometimes surprised by how Christians talk about the selfishly ambitious teachers in Philippians 1:15-17. The way I hear some people talk about these men is as if Paul were unconcerned about their envy and rivalry. Oh, sure, they should probably do better than that, and they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66633,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-teach-in-a-denomination\/","url_meta":{"origin":90243,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong to teach in a denomination?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is teaching specific subjects, such as apologetics, wrong in a denominational church? Thanks. Answer: Throughout Acts, we find the apostle Paul teaching in Jewish synagogues (Acts 9:20; 13:5,14; 14:1; 17:10; etc.). Paul did that because he had an audience interested in God, though they did not follow God correctly.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70940,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/revisiting-bible-authority\/","url_meta":{"origin":90243,"position":2},"title":"Revisiting Bible Authority","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor via Plain Bible Teaching It is good and necessary to revisit certain topics from time to time. We do not want to \"drift away\" from what we have previously learned (Hebrews 2:1). Some topics are so foundational that they affect what we believe, teach, and practice -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67317,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-master-teacher\/","url_meta":{"origin":90243,"position":3},"title":"Jesus, the Master Teacher","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Teaching is hard work. Trying to determine the best approach to teaching a variety of people from diverse backgrounds brings many challenges. What appeals to one group might not appeal to another. Some will hear what others will not, and Scripture anticipates this (e.g., Isaiah 6:9-10). Add\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":96691,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/agree-with-the-sound-words-of-jesus-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":90243,"position":4},"title":"Agree with the Sound Words of Jesus Christ","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Edwin Crozier \"Teach and urge these things,\" Paul tells Timothy. He's already told him the purpose of this letter is so folks will know how to behave as members of the church of the living God, which is the pillar and support of the truth. He's also told Timothy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46245,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/passing-the-torch\/","url_meta":{"origin":90243,"position":5},"title":"Passing the Torch","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry Almost two thousand years ago the Gospel of Jesus Christ began to be proclaimed: God became Incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth, went about doing good, was crucified and buried, but God raised Him from the dead; He ascended to the Father, received all authority and everlasting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90243\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}