Being Like Jesus

I cannot will myself to be like Jesus in the moment of testing. 

Dallas Willard discusses this point in detail in the first chapter of his book The Spirit of the Disciplines. He emphasizes that one of the major fallacies of the Church today is that we are to be like Jesus as he was in the limelight (i.e. loving the outcast, turning the other cheek, suffering patiently,etc.), without being like Jesus as he was in everyday life (i.e. praying, fasting, serving, celebrating, studying, etc.).

Willard uses the comparison of a young baseball player and a young Christian to illustrate his point. The young player cannot simply mimic his favorite baseball star in his attire, in his stance, and in his swing in order to play like him on game day. That's not how the baseball star got to the big leagues after all. The baseball star got there from years of work training his body day after day in practice, drills, diets, and exercise. If the young athlete wants to be like him, he must also commit himself to a lifestyle of practice and drills and diets and exercise to train his body day after day.

In the same way, we as Christians cannot simply hope that the moment we are tested in loving the outcast, turning the other cheek, or suffering patiently that we will be able to just mimic Jesus. Even Jesus didn't just get to loving the outcast, turning the other cheek, or suffering patiently by simply hoping he would be able to do it when the time came. Instead, Jesus "often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" (Luke 5:16); Jesus fasted (Matthew 4:1-11); Jesus served (John 13); Jesus celebrated (John 2:1-11); Jesus studied (Luke 2:41-52). If we want to be like him, we must also commit ourselves to a lifestyle of praying, solitude, fasting, service, celebration, study, etc.

Believing that I can just mimic the things that Jesus did in the limelight while not mimicking the things that he did elsewhere will only set me up for significant frustration.

To be like Jesus, I have to be like he was ALL the time, not just like he was in moments of testing.