BE Like Jesus

Years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Jim. Jim was the leader of a college ministry. But Jim wasn't an average leader. When he spoke, you wanted to listen. When he was in a room, he had a powerful presence. When I mentioned Jim to others, they would gush about how great he was.

However, what impressed me most about Jim wasn't his speaking or presence – it was his dedication to investing in others and raising them up as leaders themselves.

I remember one day going to a conference that was primarily for the staff of college ministries from all over the Midwest. Before I went, I suspected Jim would be one of the speakers. However, when I got there, I found out that Jim had given up his time slot to allow one of the staff members from his team to speak. As I listened to this staff member talk, I couldn't help but see and hear Jim. This staff member had unknowingly adopted the heart and mindset of Jim, becoming a bit like his boss.

BEing Like Our Leader

Numerous times in the New Testament, we are encouraged to be like Jesus. Whether you read from Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 3:18, or Ephesians 4:15, it is clear that simply having an awareness of Jesus and the gospel isn't the end goal of the Christian faith – becoming more Christlike is.

That is why today, we begin a new blog series entitled BE Like Jesus. The whole point of this short, five-week series is to get us to consider what it means to "live like Jesus lived and love like Jesus loved." So for the month of August, we will use this space to look at the importance of:

• BEing with Jesus (Aug 8)
• BElieving Jesus (Aug 15)
• BEhaving like Jesus (Aug 22)
• and BEcoming like Jesus (Aug 29)

My hope is that this series will help you be a bit like that college ministry staff member who sounded and acted like Jim. But rather than become more like an earthly leader, my prayer is you will be more like the most important leader to have ever graced this earth.

So join me next week as we consider how to BE with Jesus.