Get Your Mime Outfit On

Mimes are interesting people. (I must confess that I have done some mime work in the past – so, I understand the whole 'mime' thing.) To be a mime is to get in touch with your physical body. You have to work at mastering body movements to mimic movements. It takes great attention to detail and is very strenuous physically. Now, we also have people who mimic others who would not classify themselves as 'mimes'. We have a whole genre of television that makes their money doing this – specifically Saturday Night Live.

To copy, mimic, or emulate someone is the greatest sign of complement right? We are a culture obsessed with our cultural icons. Who didn't want to be like Michael Jordan? I remember the transformation to baggy shorts, cooler, more expensive tennis shoes, tongues wagging, and people re-enacting Jordan's dunks on 8ft goals. There are shows now about the personal, private lives of stars. We want to not only emulate their on-stage persona, but we need to know what they wear, eat, and say when they are not 'on camera'. Much of this craziness is because of our sickness as a person and culture – we don't know who we are so we attempt to live like others who seem to have it together – because they have fleeting fame, money, and time.

We mimic people, sometimes it a conscious attempt and many times it is subconscious. We mimic those we spend the most time around and watching. Guess who that is most of the time? Yep, your momma and daddy. That is why we have this great ability for being like parents – even the stuff we don't want – we got. (Your parents wished they hadn't passed it on either.)

In Ephesians 5:1-2 Paul tells his readers to mimic God. How can we do that? I'm not eternal, self-sufficient, all-knowing, all-powerful, or everywhere at all times. I like to act like I am similar to God at times. However, it always gets me in trouble. Thankfully, Paul is not asking me to emulate those impossible traits. He wants us to do something easy – love like God does. Yeah, that's easy…

Okay, I'm kidding. Not really that easy. Actually, I may me better at pretending that I am all-knowing rather than loving like God. God's love is sacrificial and is seeking to give, even without return. That's right, to love without expecting anything in return. I usually like a return on my investments. You might even get more from me if I know that I getting something in return. God's love is forgiving. He forgives before we even ask for forgiveness. He is just waiting for us to recognize that we need forgiveness. God's love is giving. He gives sacrificially. God's love is practical. He meets the needs of people where they are at. We are to have a love with those characteristics too; forgiving, giving, and practical. That is how we mimic God.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says it this way, "⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸Love never fails."

Read this verse and replace 'love' with your name. Does this verse describe you?

Put your mime suit on my friends and become conscious of all the details of loving well.