Followers of Jesus
Follow Me. Believe on Me. These terms are inseparable as it applies to a true Christian. One cannot be a genuine believer and not be a follower of Jesus Christ. Believing on Jesus is not a chicken donating eggs to the breakfast, it is the pig giving himself in entirety. When a light is plugged into an electrical socket and it doesn't light something is wrong. Either the bulb is deficient, or the plug is not secure, or the electricity is not connecting to the bulb. Who turns on a light switch and no light comes on and they consider that normal? And when the person goes to the breaker box to check the breaker, and then they change the bulb, and finally they check the outlet are they considered judgmental because they deemed the unlit bulb as not connected to the electricity?
Let me make an overgeneralization ("Adroit at that you are", says Yoda. ) so I can make a point more clearly. Some Christians emphasize the doctrinal aspect of Christianity at the expense of the practical issues of projecting Christ in their earthly lives. Others downplay any concrete doctrinal creeds while emphasizing displaying the humanitarian aspects of the life of Jesus. Both should be an important part of a believing followers life. A disciple of Jesus should seek to know Him and His truth through God’s eternal Word and all that it reveals. Doctrine is just a way to organize the teachings of Scripture and it is foundationally important to a diligent follower of the Lord Jesus.
From the foundation of doctrinal truth naturally springs the sacrificial aspects of living and behaving like Jesus Himself, but Jesus exists today as a Spirit in the earth as well. It is possible and also easily seen that we can all get so enamored with our doctrinal dissecting that we lose the fragrant revelation of the Spirit of Christ. It is the distinct difference between algebra and poetry, between painting a wall or painting a portrait, or between reading the newspaper or reading Shakespeare. Jesus lives inside every true believer and He should be allowed to live through the crucified life of a transparent earthen vessel. That of course is much easier said than done but so is the study required to become doctrinally mature.
The longest chapter in the Scriptures is Psalm 119 and it deals almost exclusively with seeking and knowing God’s Word. Jesus Himself is the incarnate Word which was from the beginning, so before we can emulate His life we must know His life through His Word. The Words of Jesus are not just information or guidelines, they are not just historical narratives embolden in red, they are life to our spirits and meat to our bones. They are lights to our paths and they are salvation to our souls. It is impossible to fully and completely describe the paramount importance of God’s Word and the truths they teach. To seek, to know, to meditate, to memorize, to delight, to share, and to believe, and to receive His life through His Word is the joy of our journey and without that light we stumble in darkness. It is Jesus Himself.
But let us all remember that our Savior is full of grace and mercy, and His incarnate humility is not just for inspection, it is for emulation as well. We must follow Jesus without a partiality. And our following of the Savior is not a spectator theological sport, no, it is an active and mirrored participation. So beware and count the cost before you gleefully assume God is on our side or any side. Come, let us follow Him for a while.
Follow and imitate Him as He teaches God’s Word, but also follow and imitate Him as He receives the sin cursed spittle upon His face. Oh yes, we can easily feel the reward of people listening to our words but can we feel and appreciate the wetness of their disgusting rejection? Follow and imitate Him as He gains multitudes of lips that praise Him, but also follow and imitate Him as the multitudes leave Him because of the same Words that drew them. Can we speak forcefully and eloquently to the MacLarens of this world without ever just as forcefully and eloquently speak to ourselves? Follow and imitate Him as He verbally assaults the Deceiver in the wilderness, but also follow and imitate Him as He stands silent before His shearers. Follow and imitate Him as He overturns the money changer’s tables in the Temple, but also follow and imitate Him as He weeps over Jerusalem and their rebellion against their God.
We cannot chose which aspect of our Lord’s life we get to follow, we must follow them all. If we do not cry sometimes we cannot rebuke. If we show no mercy we cannot stand in judgment. If we will not forbear sometimes then we must not call for accountability. And if our words never need repentance sometimes then we should keep silent. To follow Jesus leads sometimes to discomfort, inconvenience, humility, and the spiritual embarrassment of occasionally having our shortcomings accurately pointed out by our very own adversaries. Swallow that, enjoy that, receive that kind of God ordained rebuke and correction and you and I have literally taken our real first steps toward following Jesus. Care to turn back now? Or better still, let’s do what most are doing, either make excuses or redefine the context so as to justify pretty much everything we do.
It is at this point that I guess I should say that sometimes we should speak boldly and forcefully against the tide of error because that gives people like me some breathing room. When we deal with issues like this it tends to make the discernment flesh nervous because as we speak of following Christ it needs constant reassurance that it will be allowed to rebuke and reprove. I really don’t want to dull the sword’s edge when it comes to me, I want it every bit as sharp and cutting as I desire it for others. I need a very sharp sword for my flesh because I am very adept at deflecting the Word and have the most painful elements ricochet toward others and away from me. That is as much a deception as the emergent movement.
The Word must be free to call us to the Master, personally, not just His doctrinal creed. This journey of following Jesus is joyful and difficult, secure and unsettling, rewarding and correcting, and it requires times of deep self reflection which may end with the Spirit of God illuminating the most disgusting traits of our own fleshly heart. It is those times which will reveal whether we indeed have the courage to admit and confess our own sin as zealously as we do the sins of others. And will we also have the vulnerable courage to reveal it publicly if necessary if the Spirit dictates? Would you and I post something like this?
Oh yea, this following Jesus thing is infinitely deeper and more sacrificial than we’ve ever preached or taught it. I find it easy to let a car ahead of me in line - I find it hard to sit in that line. I find it easy to respond graciously to a store clerk’s greeting - I find it hard to offer that same gracious response to a clerk who is discourteous and curt. I find it easy to confront the teachings of the emergent movement and their leaders - I find it hard to remember to pray for them. I find it easy to receive God’s financial blessing - I find it hard to part with it. I find it easy sometimes to write about these things - I find it very hard to do what I write. I guess on some level that makes me a…a…well...the “h” word. You know. But in reality, we only become hypocrites when we proclaim we have accomplished the pursuit and we have arrived.
Like dynamite without a fuse or a bullet without gun powder, so is doctrine without a corresponding revelation from it’s adherents. Let us follow our Lord Jesus, wherever He might lead. Do not become disturbed, He will not lead us anywhere that goes against His Word. We have used that tired truth as a protection against our comfortable discipleship. But Jesus will not lead us anywhere that contradicts His Word, He doesn’t have to, there are so many parts and teachings in His Word that are as yet unfilled in His body He has an infinite Scriptural menu with which to deal with. Try these on for size (below) and after we all like Biblical taxidermists gut them and present them like Biblical trophies, dead and lifeless on our doctrinal walls of self righteous comfort, we can all retire for the night secure in the knowledge that we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is of course unless you want to argue about the term itself…
Lk.14:33 - Likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Phil.2:3 - Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
I Cor.13:1-3 - Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profits me nothing.
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