What does "Follow me" mean?

WHAT DOES “FOLLOW ME” MEAN?

Matt.16:24 "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

Matt.4: 19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Let us whittle away all the man made definitions, and all the ornate doctrinal dissertations, and let us simply ask the question, “What does it mean to follow Jesus”? It cannot be any simpler, and it cannot be anymore profound. In today’s western church we have taken that question and constructed an overarching scheme which not only dilutes the power of following Jesus, but it surreptitiously takes a few New Testament words and many cultural norms and creates an amalgam. And this conjoining of what should be two incompatible kingdoms has not only disemboweled the power of the gospel, but it has paved a new and comfortable way for believers to walk.

And this new way is not the way of Jesus. It is the way of religious man, and that way is in and of itself a new religion altogether. And we must make room for the possibility that through the decades the church has become so saturated with the culture that it no longer even knows what Jesus taught. Forget about going to church or tithing or being a church member, what does it mean to follow Jesus? Come on, that question is rarely asked, much less known.

Matt.7: 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

These are some very disturbing verses. But the church has assured everyone that whoever mumbled a few words in a sinner’s prayer does not need to concern themselves with these words. Everyone is alright. But notice that just after Jesus talks about people calling Him Lord and being rejected of Him, he goes right into a parable. It is a parable of two foundations; one of sand and one of rock. But notice that Jesus says the one who builds his house upon the rock is the one who hears His Words and does them. OK, think for a moment about the implications of that statement.

How can you “do” the Trinity? How can you “do” the virgin birth? How can you “do” justification by faith? How can you “do” the verbal plenary inspiration view? How can you do “unconditional election? How can you “do” the pre-trib rapture view? How can you “do” heaven or hell? In fact, our statements of faith have been so neatly crafted that there is little they require of us except that we check their boxes and get an “orthodox” tattoo. But that is not what Jesus said, and that surely is not the focal point of the New Testament.

In another gospel,

Lk.6: 46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

Ok, we get it, or we should. Not just hearers but doers can call Jesus Lord. But in what context is He saying this, and just what words are in that chapter? Luke seems to reiterate some of the Sermon on the Mount here, but let me cull out a few verses which come before verse 46.

22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

24 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,

28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.
29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also.

　

31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.

33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.

35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Before I delve into these verses from the lips of our Lord, can you not see how we have played the fool and allowed ourselves to be deceived by the Deceiver? Doctrine is important, but make no mistake - THESE VERSES ARE DOCTRINE! They are as true and as orthodox as is the Trinity or the deity of Christ. But nowhere do they find a place in our usual doctrinal treatises or in the checklist which tests our orthodoxy. Do you see what has happened? We have completely changed the faith once delivered to the saints. We have surgically removed these applications because we now display a faith which exhibits boasting, morals, nationalism, hatred, caustic verbiage, and an in-house back scratching of each other as we throw stones at sinners of all sizes and stripes. Where did we ever get this?

I will tell you. We got it from the fallen culture, plain and simple.

35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

Let me take it slow here so we all can understand. What….does….“love your enemies”….mean? Am I going too fast? What……….does……….”love your enemies”……….mean? Is that better? I assume we all have a least a working knowledge of the English language. And armed with that basic knowledge, what kind of devious manipulation does it take to change the meaning of “love your enemies”? Several times our Lord exhorts us to “love your enemies”. OK, class, let us all agree that is what Jesus commanded us to do. (that includes all you inerrancy disciples)

So, if that is what Jesus has commanded of us, let us see what that means. The word love seems to be the opposite of hate, right? In fact Jesus told us that we are to do good to our enemies. I know, it tends to get a little weird here. We are to love and to do good to our enemies. Is that not Scripture? Is that inspired? Does that come from the real Jesus? Then why have we ignored that admonition? How can we speak and act like the world and still claim we are following Jesus when we openly and substantively disobey His Words? And then we carelessly call Him “Lord” even though we do not do what He says? “Loving your enemies” is usually not part of the pillars of faith as constructed by man, but it seems to be a pillar of the life of Jesus.

But when a man asks of us our coat, we are supposed to give him our jacket as well? But when the tax man asks us for taxes we are allowed to complain and murmur and call him allsorts of demeaning names? And that is the way to follow Jesus? Look at verse 35 and notice that God “is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil”. Do I need to slow down here as well? Come on, let’s be transparent here. All your inerrancy and Greek and Hebrew credentials are worthless if you cannot and will not admit what this verse is saying directly to followers of Jesus. Look around and listen to professing believers and see if they are obeying these words. If not, and if they will not even admit what the verses“seem” to mean, then they are not following the Jesus that spoke them.

22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
23 Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

What do you hear when western believers feel they have been slighted or verbally attacked by the fallen culture? Rejoicing? Hardly. They return evil for evil and they rush to bask under the shadow of the wings of the founding fathers. Democracy becomes their gospel which they claim should protect them from being maligned. Instead of rejoicing in the name of Jesus they squawk as if they were owed some respect. Jesus was spit upon for us but we cannot endure unkind words for Him? He was beaten and bruised for us and yet we cannot rejoice when we are persecuted verbally? He endured the cross for us but we cannot suffer financial loss for Him?

What kind of Christianity have we constructed? We are exhorted to “leap for joy” and yet we moan and groan and use all sorts of inflammatory language toward our “enemies”. What does it mean to follow Jesus? It means we must do what He says, not just believe an organized set of doctrines. Reward in heaven? Millions upon millions of professing believers seek their reward here upon earth. They lust after money and material things, and God help those who they deem as obstacles to their prosperity. That is not following Jesus; that is following riches; that is following yourself. I am speaking about a faith which openly defies the words of Jesus but uses His name nonetheless. That is what we have come to. We correctly identify Joel Osteen and Rob Bell and others as doctrinal heretics. Brian McLaren has just written a book that suggests Moses and Buddha and Jesus were all working together. That is rank heresy and antichrist. But that has blinded us to the fact the western orthodox church is heretical in practice.

You see we have treated the teachings of Jesus as a smorgasbord. Some are doctrine, and some are optional. But in effect, we are not following Jesus. We are following our own convenient interpretations. We do not need some tweaking or some surface reorganization. No, we need a revolutionary transformation that places everything on the table, prays for a deep spiritual correction, and returns to the Scriptures as a fresh revelation. This will not be just a minor course correction. This will begin with repentance, and then will proceed to the cross, into the tomb, and through the opening when the stone has been rolled away. From there we must follow in His steps. Oh that our Lord would grant us such a journey!

In order for us to follow Jesus we must hear His Words and do them.

Simple?

Go ahead and begin.