Back to Corinth: 2 Cor. 6: 1-18

Verses 11-12: “O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections.”

In the 1965 Pink Panther cartoon, Pink Ice, the Panther is running a diamond mine in South Africa. However, all his diamonds continue to be stolen by rival mine owners, Devereaux and Hoskins. When the bumbling duo attempts to get rid of the Panther, he uses good ol’ fashioned cartoon tricks to ultimately make them distrust each other and have them at each other’s throats, all the while taking their diamonds in return. This was one of those rare Pink Panther cartoons where the Panther actually spoke (the voices of the Panther, Devereaux, and Hoskins were provided by the legendary voice actor, Rich Little.)

Though very humorous to watch how the Panther gets Devereaux and Hoskins to begin sniping at each other and eventually antagonize each other, there are people today and back in Biblical times who would set people against each other. This happened in the case of Paul and the Corinthian church; false prophets had filled the church with lies about Paul, and the church didn’t return the affection back to Paul that he had honestly and openly shown them. Paul correctly admonishes them, telling them that they are their own worst enemy; that Paul and his company of missionaries are not restricting them, but they are hurting themselves.

How many times have we allowed our own misconceptions or groundless beliefs about something to get in the way of the Lord’s work? We need to listen to the truth from Jesus Christ, He who is the Truth. Think how much the church could do today if all its members were united in following God, and not trying to add a comma where God put a period?

Something to think about.

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Ephesians 5:1-2

Verse 1: “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.”

I have always been fascinated at how certain mimics and celebrity impersonators use their abilities to imitate another sound, speech, or mannerisms of somebody else. I grew up entertained by the talents of Rich Little, Frank Gorshin, Larry Storch, Chuck McCann, Mel Blanc, and Kevin Winslow. I know I’m forgetting countless other talented people; it was watching folks like this that led my wife and I to be able to mimic certain speech brogues, dialects, and styles when we read children’s stories at our local elementary school. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and nowhere do you see that more than when a child imitates their parents.

In the movie Jaws, Chief Brody is at home, sitting at the dining room table after supper. He is moodily considering how the mayor and town council won’t believe him or back his actions about a shark in the area being responsible for a couple of deaths. He is feeling guilty over being confronted by the mother whose young son was the second victim, when she slapped him after finding out he knew that there might be a shark in the area (the mayor tries to convince him it wasn’t his fault…and in actuality, it was the mayor who prevented him from taking full actions….but Brody still accepts the blame personally). As his wife Ellen is clearing the table and starts to walk back in from the kitchen, she stops and watches as Sean, their youngest son, is mimicking his dad: he drinks from his glass like him, folds his hands in front of his face like him, places his face in his hands like him. At this point, Brody begins to notice this: he interlocks his fingers together and Sean copies him. He flexes his fingers, and Sean copies him. He makes a mean monster face, and Sean tries to copy him. He bends down towards his son and asks him to give him a kiss. When Sean whispers “Why?”, Brody wearily tells him it’s because he needs it. The whole scene is very powerful in that, when it seems the world is against him, his own child still loves him.

Be imitators of God, like a dear child. We need to show our Heavenly Father that we do love him. We need to do that in our talk. We need to do it even more in our actions. Jesus showed us the way.

Have a blessed day in Him.

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