Run the race with endurance

Today, many people display such admiration and devotion to celebrities that it may even be considered worship. We must take care to embrace scriptural principles of humility and service while guarding against such worldly ideas and behaviours.

As we work to reject and oppose our culture’s fallenness in this area, however, it can be striking to come across a clear scriptural theme of Believers being inspired not only by Christ’s example but also by the examples of other Christians. This theme is especially prevalent in Paul’s epistles, and in Philippians 3:17 we see him go so far as to instruct others to follow his personal example. “Wait,” we might say, “isn’t that egotistical? Are we really meant to imitate other Believers?”

Man-centred values and ideas run contrary to our Christian faith. Christ must be the central focus of our thinking, and no other person may be allowed to take His place in our hearts and minds. He is not just a good example for us — He is the proper object of our worship. He is, as Thomas declares, “My Lord and my God!” Christ must be discussed first when we talk about others’ examples, and Paul does so beautifully in Philippians 2:5–11.

But Scripture also points to the examples of other Christians as inspiration for our faith. Consider Hebrews 12:1, which describes Believers as “so great a cloud of witnesses”, along with “looking to Christ” (v. 2), it is critical to set aside sin and “run our race with endurance.”