<p>4:16 <i>I therefore urge you to be imitators of me- </i>Literally, 'mimic me'. This continues the imagery of Paul being their father. He has earlier warned against the danger of following leaders, including himself. But he balances this with the observation that he is their spiritual father and they should mimic him. His answer to the problem of following human leaders appears to be: 'Follow me as I am your spiritual father; but not in any cult like sense, and following me means being spiritually minded'. Paul constantly sets himself up as an example to his converts; and whenever he bids them &lsquo;follow me&rsquo;, it is in the context of his example as a preacher (Phil. 3:15-17; 4:9; 1 Thess. 1:6; 1 Cor. 4:16; 10:31-11:1; Eph. 5:1; 1 Thess. 2:14; 2 Thess. 3:7-9). He was their spiritual father, and he wants the converts to have his spiritual characteristics, which included preaching to others. This perhaps accounts for the otherwise surprising lack of specific encouragement to his converts to preach which we observe in Paul&rsquo;s writings. He understood his role to be initiatory- he speaks of his preaching as planting (1 Cor. 3:6-9; 9:7,10,11), laying foundations (Rom. 15:20; 1 Cor. 3:10), giving birth (1 Cor. 4:15; Philemon 10) and betrothing (2 Cor. 11:2). His aim was for his converts to also preach and develop self-sustaining ecclesias. &ldquo;Paul&rsquo;s method of shaping a community was to gather converts around himself and by his own behaviour to demonstrate what he taught&rdquo;, following a pattern practiced by the contemporary moral philosophers. Paul is set before us as &quot;a Christ-appointed model&quot; of the ideal believer. He himself seems to have sensed this happening when he so often invites us to follow his example (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; Gal. 4:12; Phil. 3:17; 4:9;&nbsp; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2:10; 2 Thess. 3:7,9). He does this quite self-consciously, for example: &ldquo;I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved... let no man seek his own, but another&rsquo;s profit&rdquo; (1 Cor. 10:33,24). He even says that he doesn't do things which he could legitimately allow himself, <i>because</i> he knew he was being framed as their example (2 Thess. 3:7,9).</p>