If you do not understand the point of chapters 8,9,10, you will not understand 11:1 (which is the final verse of chapter 10).
The sentence was not dropped out of heaven, divorced from context and the meaning that context has.
I understand Chapters 8 (abstain from idols and not to make a brother stumble), Chapter 9 (preach the gospel, make ourselves servants of others, run a good race), and Chapter 10 (run from idolatry and do all for the glory of God). Then, in Chapter 11:1 Paul states be imitators of me as I am of Christ.
This certainly was the way Christ and Paul lived. I fail to understand why we would NOT want to imitate this behavior.