Role-Play

Psychologists often use the method of "role-play" in order to help their patients understand themselves and others better. This counseling tool works well because there is the "actor" in all of us and we love to pretend we are someone else, even if it's just for a little while.

Role-playing goes beyond the doctor's office, however. Casual observation reveals businessmen dressed like cowboys, doctors donning biker gear for a weekend run on their Harleys, and homemakers decked out like Olympic hopefuls at the local gym. It seems that everybody role plays to a certain extent - be it in the way they dress or talk, or the attitude they adopt when they get behind the wheel of their cars and trucks.

Now my point here is not to criticize our human penchant for acting like someone we admire or aspire to be. No, my point here is to wonder why we, as Christians, often fail to channel this role-playing and energy into a more concrete effort to act like Jesus.

After all, every hero we strive to emulate is simply a failed attempt to recreate the ideal human, Adam, before his fall. Why not bypass these fruitless efforts and focus directly on the image of the new Adam in Christ?

You see, a better model will produce a better person. In Jesus' case, the perfect model will produce a person perfect in the eyes of God and a new model for others to imitate.