Legacy Logic Part 1

As I study the leadership approach modeled by the Apostle Paul, I see that the idea of imitation was an important and recurring theme for him.

He offers himself a model of leadership for others to not just follow, but to imitate:

“Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.” (1 Corinthians 4:16)

“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” (Ephesians 5:1)

The word translated imitators in these verses is based on the Greek word mimetai from which the English term mimics is derived.

In his first letter to the church at Thessalonica, Paul commends them for the fact that they had become imitators of “us and the Lord.”

“You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” (1 Thessalonians 1: 6-7)

Essentially, these followers were mimicking the attitudes and behaviors they had observed in Paul and his leadership team.

They took their mimicking to the next level because they became examples for others to follow. In the original Greek, typos, translated as example, refers to a seal that marked wax or a stamp that minted coins. The word originally denoted a mark made by a blow. The usage evolved and the word came to refer to any image whether stamped or not. The word has ethical significance when it is used as a pattern of conduct, or as it is in this text, as an example to be followed.

Paul and his team left their mark on the Thessalonians. Paul put his “stamp” on those he led.

Then, the Thessalonians followed this pattern and were leaving their mark – their stamp - on others.

Who are you leaving your mark on?

Who bears your stamp?