Imitate or Impersonate
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 5
I don’t think anyone in history has more impersonators than Elvis. I read that in 2008 there were an estimated 85,000 of them. I couldn’t find more recent statistics. This brings up an important distinction between impersonation and imitation. It has been said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. If that is true than impersonation has to be the most pathetic.
The dictionary defines impersonation as acting out a character. On the other hand, imitation is defined as following a pattern, model or example. A lot of musicians have imitated Elvis in the sense that they followed a pattern of music and entertainment he created, but they don’t wear his clothes or mimic his accent or even sing his songs. These are the things impersonators do. They want you to think they are Elvis. The imitators are fine with you knowing they are influenced and helped by him, but they aren’t pretending to be him.
That leads me to a larger issue…when we live out the Christian life are we impersonators or imitators. Are we a pathetically hollow caricature of what we think Jesus was like, or what we imagine the perfect Christian to be, or are we just following the pattern and example we see in Jesus? Is our Christian life a external conformity alone, or is it a working out of the inner transforming power of Christ? When Jesus said, “follow me,” he meant more than just act out a part. He meant to adopt the pattern of life, love and devotion to God we see in him.
I am reminded of one of my favorite songs, a song Dan Fogelberg wrote about his father in which he sings, “My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man, I am a living legacy to the leader of the band.” Dan understood the difference between imitation and impersonation. His father, Lawrence, was a high school and college band leader. Dan was a folk/rock singer. They weren’t the same, yet Dan saw things in his father that he sought to live out in his own life. He was seeking to imitate, not impersonate, his father.
Fogelberg’s line in that song probably accurately reflects the sentiment of every believer who has sought to obey the words of Ephesians 5:1: Be imitators of God as dear children.