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Jesus Loves Meme


Previous sermons are posted online. Please check them out and share them.
We’ve discussed several memes in this series. Can we name a few?
By now you hopefully know what a meme is:
A meme is an idea that is shareable. It often utilizes pictures and text.
What is your favorite meme? Text our anonymous text line: 214-856-0550
Today we’re talking about a meme that isn’t my favorite. I don’t think Jesus would share this meme. But according to the church’s liturgical meme calendar,
this week we are supposed to talk about “Be like Bill”
BE LIKE BILL

Do you recognize Bill? The “Be like Bill” meme started in 2015, and back then Bill looked like this:
BE LIKE BILL ORIGINAL

At some point Bill stood up and put on a hat, and people started sharing iterations of the meme that describe various things that Bill does, like this
BE LIKE BILL MONDAY

BE LIKE BILL SNOW

BE LIKE BILL SPAM

They went viral. There were several versions. There were some telling you to be like other characters, or not to be like other characters.
In 2016 people started releasing online widgets where you could put in your name and it would generate an image telling people to be like you.
BE LIKE BILL
I’m not a huge fan of this meme because it’s kind of boring. It’s intended to be instructive rather than funny. And it comes off a little smug.
In addition, it’s self-defeating.
Most of these memes encourage us to have good manners on social media.
But if you post these memes, and maybe tag a few people who need to see them…
That’s not good manners. Bill wouldn’t do that. You’re not being like Bill.
I do not have a problem with the fact that it tells us to imitate someone.
We’re often told not to imitate other, and that we should “be ourselves.”
But we learn by imitating. As my kids grow up, it’s amazing how they learn by imitating the people around them. My wife and I have to be careful not to model behaviors around our son that we don’t want him to imitate.
If you know people with good qualities and good behaviors that you admire,
it’s okay to imitate them and adopt those behaviors.
But if you’re going to imitate someone, why not try to imitate the BEST person?
BE LIKE JESUS

Don’t be like Bill, be like Jesus.
Is that scriptural? Yes it is.
JOHN 13:34 NIV A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
Jesus repeats this command in John 15:17 
We are commanded to love others as He loved. And since love motivated all of Jesus’ actions, then if we love as He did we should end up living as He did.
Furthermore we are told that we will eventually become like Him.
1 JOHN 3:2 NIV Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
If we are destined to be like Jesus when He returns, why not start trying to be like Him today? These are the words of the Apostle John – John the Revelator
1 JOHN 2:6 NIV Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
The Apostle Paul agrees:
1 CORINTHIANS 11:1 NIV Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
And so does the Apostle Peter:
1 PETER 2:21 NIV To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
We are called to be like Jesus. Do you consider yourself a Christian?
The word “Christian” means little Christ. Followers of Christ. The believers in Acts were called “Christians” because they were acting like copies of Jesus.
Do you try to be like Jesus in your life?
COOLER IF YOU DID

Or to put it another way, using a meme we looked at earlier in this series
Y U NO BE LIKE JESUS

I don’t live like Jesus as much as I want to. Why don’t we live like Jesus?
There are many reasons. One of the main reasons is that it’s difficult
and we don’t want to be a bad imitation.
There’s nothing worse than a bad impersonation.
Al Pacino – Sent of a Woman “Hoo-wah! Hoo-wah!”
I believe the book of proverbs says: “Like smoke to the eyes and vinegar to the teeth, such is someone doing a bad impersonation.”
Bad imitations are embarrassing and we don’t want to be that person.
Bad imitations are the basis for another meme that I really do like.
Are you aware of the “Nailed It” meme? Sometimes we can say someone “Nailed it” when they do a great job. But in meme context it is meant sarcastically.
People find recipes or projects on the internet, but they don’t turn out like the picture online.
For example:

NAILED IT – HEDGEHOG CAKE

NAILED IT – BABY PICTURE

NAILED IT – SCOOBY CAKE

 
12 NAILED IT – BABY SLING
One more, and this one may be my favorite
NAILED IT – JESUS PICTURE

Story – Church in Spain, painted in 1930, fixed in 2012 by Cecilia Gimenez
BAD JESUS PICTURE

If you didn’t know the story, would you recognize that this is supposed to be Jesus?
We may feel the same. If we try to live like Jesus people might not recognize Jesus in us. It would be embarrassing. We would look foolish.
1 CORINTHIANS 1:27 NIV But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
When the enemy tells you that you look foolish. Remind him that God chose the foolish. The last thing the enemy wants is more people trying to live like Jesus.
When my son imitates me he doesn’t always get it right, but I love him.
We are God’s children and He loves us.
As we try to be like Him, He is at work in us helping us to become more like Him.
If you are not a Christian, you may wonder why anyone would want to live like Jesus.
ACTS 13:28 NIV Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.
ACTS 13:29 NIV When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.
ACTS 13:30 NIV But God raised him from the dead
If we live like Jesus, God will raise us to eternal life with Him.
Jesus blessed everyone around Him. Do you want to be a blessing to people?
Jesus changed the world. You can change the world if you live like Him.
If you don’t know Jesus, I encourage you to get to know Him.
Often we don’t live like Jesus because we don’t know how.
BE LIKE BILL
Getting back to the Be like Bill meme, another thing I don’t like about it is that it doesn’t tell us much about Bill.

He’s nice online. He’s smart. He wears a hat. That’s it. It’s an incomplete picture.
WWJD BE LIKE JESUS

A meme like this that said “Be like Jesus” wouldn’t work because it would be an incomplete picture. Out of context, some of the things Jesus did would not be good for us to imitate in some situations.
Washing feet. Clearing out the Temple. Calling Pharisees a “Brood of Vipers.”
Jesus never drove a car, used a phone, or used the internet. Jesus was homeless.
But Jesus did take naps.
INCOMPLETE PICTURE

The Bible presents an incomplete picture of Jesus. It says so.
John 21: 25 NIV Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
BE LIKE JESUS
So how are we supposed to know how to be like Jesus? 
You have to get to know Him. Talk to Him. Have a relationship with Him.
You have an opportunity right now. Will you spend some time talking to God?