“Be imitator of me, as I am of Christ” 1 Corinthians 11:1, ESV

This is the beginning of a series influenced by the Bakersfield episode of the “Big Bang Theory”. Yes, you can see things that can/should influence your Christian walk while watching (/being in) the world as it goes by. I can think of at least 5 different subjects from this episode alone. I am having a hard time deciding where I should start: discipleship, the parable of the sower, Unity of the Church, or just being different. One of the most interesting portions of the show is where the ladies decide that they want to see what is so interesting about comic books. Many of you don’t know, but I was way into comic books when I was younger. I can call late 20’s as being younger now that I am looking at 50. My favorite character was Thor, god of Thunder. It is only a coincidence that the ladies in this episode decide to read a Thor comic book, but it is so cool that it is.

So now you may be asking yourself, how does this correspond to our Christian walk? Well, I actually see the discipleship model being displayed here. During the 6+ year run of the series, Raj, Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard have scheduled their lives around comics in some way, shape, or form. They had specific days that they went to the comic book store. They went to many comic conventions, comic cons, where they would even go as far as to dress up. They dressed up for Halloween. They even “worshiped” Stan Lee, the creator of their beloved characters. They gave up time with family and even with their “significant others” to be with their community of fellow lovers of comics. They let it infiltrate every part of their lives. Does this sound like something we should be doing?

This episode to me culminates in the definition of discipleship. Like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, the guys have been displaying an example so that the ladies have finally decided they wanted to see what was so great about these things called comic books. The example they saw caused the ladies to go to the comic book store, by themselves. The comic book store was a scary place. It was filled with others who were different, like the guys. They ventured to even interact with the owner, who before this was only an acquaintance. They then took the time to read the comic book and formulate their own opinion as to what was being said. They even got into some heated discussions about the meanings of what they read, but that is for another blog (can you say different theologies?).

They finally decided to follow the example of the boys. Now, I am not going to get into how deep a following it caused but only to say that it was a start. We Christians are supposed to be like Raj, Sheldon, Leonard, and Howard in being an example of difference that will cause others to want to see why. Have you been different? Have you been different in every aspect? Have you given up things to follow what you believe? Have you shown the excitement to be different for what you believe?

Do you know that there are many people who are watching your life to see if they want to see who this Jesus we profess is? Dare to be different for Christ and let him use your life to cause others to want to know what this life of following him is like.: