1 Corinthians 11:1 - A copy of a copy of a copy of a....

The apostle Paul once wrote,  "Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1, New Living Translation, 2015).

But what does that mean, exactly? Paul was a missionary that traveled throughout regions surrounding the Mediterranean. Every city he entered, his first priority was to preach in the local Jewish synagogue. He could debate the theological and philosophical issues of the day. He suffered great persecution because of his influential ministry, and remained single his entire life to stay on task with all of it.

Paul wasn't telling us to be missionaries to Jewish synagogues in the Mideast. He wasn't referring to actions, but to character. So perhaps an understandable paraphrase of the verse is, "imitate me in the way that I imitate Christ."

After all, there are others who examples to imitate:

The church in Thessalonica imitated the churches in Judea by enduring persecution. (1 Thessalonians 2:14)

We are to imitate people like Abraham who waited patiently for God to keep His promises. (Hebrews 6:12-13)

We are to imitate the faith of those whose lives reflect the word of God. (Hebrews 13:7). Maybe you know good people that you try to imitate as well.

...............................

In the 1st century BC (or AD, perhaps), a Greek artist, Agesander, created a marble sculpture based on the myth of  Laocoön (pr. lay-AH-co-ahn). The full sculpture shows two boys and their father being attacked by sea serpents. The sculpture was unearthed in Rome in 1506 and is now in the Vatican Museum. Once you see it you cannot forget the face of Laocoön, frozen in perpetual distress and anguish.

 

In 1525, Baccio Bandinelli sculpted a marble copy which is displayed at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

 Around 2021, Alessio Conticelli, a Florence artisan, made a mold to cast the head of Laocoön in plaster. I assume he didn't go to Rome to copy the original since his shop is only a few blocks from the Uffizi. As much as I admire Alessio's work, he would agree that it's just a shadow--a reminder of the original.

Even comparing two-dimensional images shows how the sculpture has evolved with each copy. They are all good, but there's only one original.

Before we could print copies of digital documents, we'd come across photocopies made from photocopies of photocopies. Make enough copies of copies and they're a blur.

When Paul says, "imitate me just as I imitate Christ," the focal point is imitating Christ. Others can point us in the right direction, but if we just imitate good people, it becomes a copy of a copy of a copy.

Lord, Keep us from settling for a "good copy." Open our eyes to see and our hearts to experience Christ for ourselves. We want the original imitated by our own lives. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Photos by K. Carlson.
History at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laoco%C3%B6n_and_His_Sons
https://www.friendsoftheuffizigallery.org/laocoon-group-marble/