IMITATORS & COPY-CATS

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery." This is an old saying I used to here when I was a child. However, if you have ever been the victim of the "copy-cat" game, you might not agree with the above statement. Did you ever play the "copy-cat" game when you were younger? This is the game where a person just randomly walks up and starts to repeat everything you say, word for word, or copy your actions, or both. Usually, younger siblings like to play this with their older siblings. I say, usually, because I know that older siblings know how to torment too. (Ask my older brother) However, in this game the younger ones find it funny and the older ones find it annoying. It can be a never ending game if the younger one refuses to tire of it. The game typically will go something like this... "Mom, he’s copy-catting me," says the older sibling. "Mom, he’s copy-catting me," says the younger one. "You better leave me alone," says the older sibling. "You better leave me alone," says the younger one. "MOM! Would you please tell him to stop!" says the older sibling. "MOM! Would you please tell him to stop!" repeats the younger one. "I’m telling you, you better leave me ALONE!" says the older sibling. (Younger one now grinning) "I’m telling you, you better leave me ALONE!"repeats the younger one. "MOM! WILL YOU PLEASE MAKE HIM QUIT IT!" cries the older sibling. (There is usually a little giggling about this time by the younger one) "MOM! WILL YOU PLEASE MAKE HIM QUIT IT!" repeats the younger. (Are you weary of this game too?) At some point the older one either pounces on the younger one, or you will hear a calm reply from Mom who says, "Alright. That’s enough, stop tormenting your brother or sister." Now that I am grown and have children of my own, I try to find unique ways to end this game. For instance, I might say to the older one, "You know, you should be complimented that he or she loves you so much that they want to be just like you." This will sometimes detour the one doing the copy-catting because they immediately get defensive. "No way! I don’t want to be like them, I was just having a little fun." Which (if you know the rules of "copy-catting") ends the game. But there have been times when I have said, "Then you best be careful what you do while they’re "copy-catting" you, so that you do not teach them some bad habit." In life, we are all "copy-cats" or imitators. Unless you are the original designer of something, then the only way you can wear it, cook it, look like it, or whatever it may be, is to copy what someone else has already thought up. I know women who hate to tell you their recipe for something because they don’t want anyone to be able to copy it. Or they will tell you all but one ingredient so that it is similar but not exactly the same. Why? Well, because that is their "specialty" and they like that they are known for it. I also know people who do not like to tell you wear they bought that new outfit because they don’t want anyone to have the same clothes as they do, or perhaps buy it and look better in it. The fact is that when we see something that we think looks good, we tend to want to have it too. I even know people who get on this blog and like what they see or read so much that they try to imitate it in their own blogs. I love that! I think it is cool that someone would get on my blog and take my ideas and use them on theirs. But, there may be folks out their who do not like to be "copy-catted." Do you know what the definition of Christian is? CHRIST LIKE. You will never BE Christ, but as Christians we are to strive to be "like" Him. Basically, you "copy-cat" Him. I guess I better say here that it is supposed to be from the heart, not just for appearance. Titus 2 is FULL of God’s instructions on how the aged men are to teach the younger ones, and the same instruction is given to the aged women for teaching the younger women. I Peter 4:4 says, "Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:" You will come across some who will think you strange for being "Christ-like". They may mock you for your stand or your standards. They may scorn you for your beliefs. It is possible that you will suffer some for trying to be "Christ-like." I Peter 4:16 says, "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." On the other hand, there will be some who will see that you are different and they want what you have. They want to know peace, like you have. They want to know happiness, like you have. They want to know joy, like you have. All of these things that can only be found in Christ. And they will watch you and perhaps "copy-cat" you a little because they don’t know any other thing to do. Remember this, "Your walk talks, and your talk talks, but your walk talks, more than your talk talks." Be careful that you are not just a talker. Maybe you feel like someone is "copy-catting" you today. It may be your walk, your talk, your dress, or your actions. Whatever the case may be, you better take heed. When someone "copy-cats" you, it is because they see something in you that is absent from their own life. It is, in fact, a compliment.

IS THE GRASS REALLY GREENER?

I have heard the story of Abraham and Lot many times in my life. I heard it in Sunday School when I was a child and I still hear it preached about in church today. One of the things I love about reading God's Word is that no matter how many times you've read it, or heard something taught, you can learn something or see something new every time. I was reading in Genesis 13 this week and I got to the part where Abram and Lot's herdsman are arguing (v.7-9). You may know the story of how they decide that it is best to part company and Abram gives Lot his choice of which direction to go. Basically, Abram tells Lot that whatever direction he chooses, then Abram will go the other way. When you get to verse ten it says, "And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar." When I read this verse an old phrase popped in to my head... "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence." As humans, we tend to look at others and think that they have it way better than we do. Or we might look at what others have and think that if we follow in their footsteps then we will have that too. The phrase that stuck out to me this time though was, "like the land of Egypt." In the Bible, Egypt is always a picture of the world. I wonder what Lot saw in Egypt that affected his thinking? Back in Genesis 12, you'll remember, the family sojourns in Egypt for a while to escape a famine and Lot was with them. He must have liked whatever he saw because this land that he was looking at in Genesis 13:10 reminds him of it. So, he chooses it. He goes a step farther in pitching his tent toward Sodom. A decision we all know has affected his family for generation after generation. The Bible says that "the men of Sodom were wicked AND sinners before the LORD exceedingly." When you get to chapter 19, the LORD has had enough of Sodom & Gomorrah and sends angels to tell Lot to get out of there because he is ready to destroy it. I don't know the span of time between chapter 10 and chapter 19 but however long or short, Lot was a full-fledged resident of Sodom by that time. He's no longer living in a tent that is pitched toward Sodom, he is in the gate. Sadly, Lot had forgotten all the blessings that he was given while growing up. He had forgotten all the faith that he was taught by his Uncle Abram. In chapter 19, these angels have to rescue Lot several times. They pulled him in. (v.10) They persisted in telling him to get out. (v.12) They pushed. (v.15) They picked him up and put him out. (v.16) It would seem that Lot had gotten a bit to attached to the lifestyle of Sodom. So much that even his own family would not listen to him (v.14) They got so weary of trying to tell him that he needed to get out of there that they finally picked him up and carried him out of the place. Sadly, he did not leave with as many as he came in with. In fact, even though they came out of Sodom, they still had Sodom "in" them. By the end of chapter 19 he has lost all his children, his wife, and has two daughter left that are pregnant BY HIM!  We best be careful the place we take our children to, or the things we allow them to get involved in, or see or hear, or taste, or touch, or smell. It may be that Egypt stayed in Lot's heart, and then Sodom was instilled in his children. You never come out of sin smelling or looking like you did when you went in. As my father-in-law, Dr. Larry Groves, always says..."It's a lot easier to take your family into Sodom, than it is to get them out." Was the grass really greener for Lot by the time it was all said and done?