Georgia Baptist leaders urged to imitate Christ at Executive Committee meeting

TYRONE, Ga. — Trea Brinson, senior pastor of Eagle’s Landing in McDonough and the Georgia Baptist Convention’s first vice president, told members of the Executive Committee that they are called to be “imitators of Christ.”

Brinson, speaking at a committee meeting on Tuesday, March 10, at Dogwood Church in Tyrone, Ga., delivered a devotional message from 1 Corinthians 11:1 focused on Paul’s admonition to “imitate me as I imitate Christ.” He urged pastors and leaders to examine not simply whether they preach Christ, but whether they are living lives that are “worthy of emulation.”

Brinson opened by reflecting on how children mirror the people they admire, telling how his 8-year-old son wants to go wherever he goes and do whatever he does. That reality, he said, carries “a tremendous weight” for a father. Spiritual leaders, he said, carry a similar weight. Believers are watching, Brinson explained, and spiritual leaders need to not only talk about Jesus but model a life shaped by Him.

From Paul’s command to imitate Christ, Brinson offered what he called five practical ways leaders should seek to imitate Jesus.

First, Brinson challenged listeners to imitate Jesus’ compassion. He pointed to repeated Gospel scenes in which Jesus’ compassion moved Him toward the sick, the hungry, and the grieving.

Second, he urged leaders to imitate Jesus’ availability, noting that though Christ’s ministry was constantly interrupted, He did not treat people as obstacles to the mission. Instead, Brinson said, Jesus “viewed people as the mission.”

Third, Brinson called on those gathered to imitate Jesus’ prayer life, pointing to Luke’s repeated reminders that Jesus withdrew to pray, especially before major moments.

Fourth, Brinson urged leaders to imitate Jesus’ humility, pointing to Philippians 2 and the picture of Christ emptying Himself, taking the form of a servant, and humbling Himself to death on a cross. God does not build His kingdom on status or position, Brinson said, but on humility.

Finally, Brinson pressed leaders to imitate Jesus’ surrender. Brinson shared a personal account of praying through a difficult situation in his own life, and coming to the point where he prayed, “Not my will be done, but yours.” He said the Lord used the fear and uncertainty to show him how tightly he was trying to control what must be entrusted to God, and he urged pastors to trust the Father even when they do not understand what He is doing.

Georgia Baptist Convention President Steve Browning, lead pastor at FBC Alpharetta, also spoke, describing growing evangelism momentum across the state, saying he is encouraged each Sunday to see baptism photos shared by churches. Browning urged churches to be “relentless” in carrying out the mission to reach Georgia’s seven million lost people.