Follow

You’ve sat in the pew for years, compelled and inspired by the leader’s preaching. It felt so earnest and real. Then, the news hits, your leader has succumbed to moral failure. It stings, leaving you wondering, Was any of it real? Jesus saw the same in his day. He confronted religious leaders who likewise didn’t “practice what they preached,” and placed “heavy burdens” on others (Matthew 23:3–4). He named them, in a word: hypocrites! Ouch.

Preventing Hypocrisy

Jesus’ razor-sharp challenge about hypocrisy, still common in today’s vernacular, reveals the gap between faithful and unfaithful God-fearing leadership. When that gap widens, our witness becomes less like a portrait of Jesus and more like a caricature: a distorted cartoon that exaggerates a few features while missing the real person. Caricatures might entertain, but they rarely inspire the trust necessary to foster transformation. What changes lives is a portrait—an authentic, integrated likeness of someone whose actions match their words.

So, how can disciple-makers move from being a distorted caricature to a faithful portrait of Jesus? You might be surprised, but the answer lies not so much in what we know, but in who we are becoming.

Follow: Be Real, Point Others to Jesus

Becoming a portrait of Jesus begins with one word: humility. It’s about being real enough to say, “I don’t have all the answers.”

The leaders of Jesus’ day acted as though they did, treating their knowledge like a map everyone had to follow. The map itself isn’t the problem. The problem was arrogantly ignoring the guide sent to them. Without Jesus, even our greatest theologians and teachers are lost.

Discipleship based only on knowing and dispensing answers produces a caricature. Portraits, by contrast, are marked by authenticity. They acknowledge that “even with the right answers, I can still lead others astray if I don’t entrust them to the guide.” For Jesus knows the way intimately better than us. After all, he created the map.

Historian W.E.H. Lecky noted that Jesus’ brief ministry restored mankind more than all the philosophers and preachers combined.¹ It’s safe to say, Jesus knows how to do this. We can trust his Spirit to do portrait work in others.

Practically, this means that we offer Scripture for teaching, correction, and guidance (2 Timothy 3:16). But we need to get real. What we know is limited. And it is appropriate to proceed with humility, holding our advice loosely. When we don’t know what to do, it’s okay to say, “I don’t know.” We can offer to pray, then step back and let Jesus lead. This trust in his leadership fosters a clear, beautiful portrait of Jesus, who is greater than you and I.

Practice: The Daily Brushstrokes

We will only be able to release others to Jesus if we trust him ourselves. We can grow this trust through daily brushstrokes.

Chuck DeGroat reminds us that formation happens not just in the grand moments but in the small, repetitive acts of faithfulness—in daily brushstrokes.² It’s in small but intentional choices that the caricature is patiently modified and the portrait emerges.

We see it in the fruit of the Spirit that grows slowly, diligently, and in its season (Galatians 5:22–23). But this isn’t some heavenly checklist. Instead, it’s what begins to show up as we make regular portrait-like brushstrokes.

In our day-to-day routines, this might look like:

• Patience: not sending that snippy email—let it breathe.
• Kindness: listening to your coworker when you’re busy.
• Faithfulness: being fully present for your family at dinner.
• Self-Control: choosing to scroll less and offer breath prayers when anxious.

Each choice is a brushstroke of trust, shaping us increasingly into the portrait of Christ.

Cultivate: Cleaning Our Brushes

These daily brushstrokes can be combined with the cultivation of intentional moments of confession and repentance. We might call it “cleaning our brushes.”

This involves taking a deep look at what’s really in our hearts. It’s getting honest about where we’re still a caricature—where what we display is different than who we really are and making adjustments according to the portrait of Christ.

This cultivation must happen in places where grace and truth are present:

• Become someone who isn’t afraid to ask hard questions and do it in love.
• Daily reflect with God: Where do I look like a portrait of you? Where am I a caricature?
• Let Scripture read you. For example, allow Ephesians 4 to challenge you to “become” the portrait of who you are meant to be.   

To neglect routine self-examination is to risk becoming the heavy burden Jesus confronted. Think “millstone” (Matthew 18:6). We need this pattern in our lives to reveal where to make brushstrokes so we can become more like the portrait of Jesus, so we can say with Paul, “Follow me, as I follow Jesus” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Gather: Paint in Community

As we strive to become better portraits, we are painting in community. It’s with others that our true character shows up.

It’s the give and take of small group, serving alongside others, offering and receiving forgiveness. In these spaces, we “bear with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). Being with people reveals the blind spots on our canvas and offers the encouragement and celebration we need to carry on. Discipleship is meant to be a group exhibition, not a solo project. The portrait of Christ is meant to be painted together.

Jesus was only ever alone with the Father (which isn’t alone), and only for a time. And there was always the goal of coming back to his people. He was a teacher, friend, and family member. That’s the way we are meant to paint his portrait—together. Anything less can only be a mere caricature.

An Invitation: Match the Message with Your Life

At the end of the day, people likely won’t remember what you said, but they will remember who you were. They’ll recall if you reflected the portrait of Jesus or if you were a confusing caricature. Being a portrait means who you are aligns with what you say, which means Jesus becomes believable—authentic, integrated, and vividly present in your life.

The way of Jesus is humble daily effort, through self-examination within the church. Then we boast like Paul, not in having all the answers, not in perfection, but in weakness. In doing so, we pick up our brushes and paint a picture of Christ’s strength, making his portrait more real than any caricature could ever offer (2 Corinthians 12:9).

1. William Stratton Bruce, “The Formation of Christian Character,” Renovare, https://renovare.org/articles/the-formation-of-christian-character. ↩︎
2. W. E. H. Lecky, History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne, 3rd ed., vol. 2 (New York: D. Appleton, 1877), 8–9. ↩︎