003- Never Stop Following Jesus
Being a Christian isn’t really all that easy. Well, on the surface it is, but following Jesus isn’t. I mean, it’s super easy if you’re not doing it right. If you want to go to church, give a little money, serve on a committee, and check off the spiritual boxes on your growth checklist, it’s easy. Being a Christian is like being a sports fan - it’s just one of those things that you are or you’re not. And if you choose to be, it’s easy and only takes minor commitment. That is, if you’re not doing it right. If you do it right, it kind of sucks sometimes. You have to put yourself last, you have to be the first to apologize, you have to always take the high road, you have to follow up your faith with actual works, you have to keep evaluating your motives, feelings, thoughts, and actions daily to see if they line up with the Word of God - which also means you need to spend time in the Word of God, and it’s just a lot of uncomfortable work. It’s hard work to follow Jesus. And that’s where the difference lies: in today’s climate, there’s a notable difference between self-identifying as a Christian and actually following Jesus. One is a life statement, the other is a lifestyle.
Following Jesus isn’t a one-time decision, prayer, or choice you made in a church service one Easter. It’s a daily denial of self and a constant molding of inner realignment with the Word and Spirit of God. It’s holding the beautiful tension of listening inwardly and responding outwardly in every situation, conversation, and interaction. Following Jesus is an open invitation with no expiration date. In fact, we not only see the invitation from Jesus to follow Him when He called the first disciples, but we even see the same invitation extended again to Peter in John 21 after he denied Jesus. The point is that it’s a constant, continual pursuit.
I don’t know how it happens, but somewhere along the way many of us stop following Jesus. Not intentionally, and not necessarily forsaking Him - just not actively following Him. We get comfortable with the flow of life, and we let our needs and desires take over our routines and form new habits in our lifestyles. Our focus becomes about our financial security, our relational struggles, our work goals, and our personal gains. It’s not that we don’t love Jesus anymore - we do; we still go to church, serve, give, and pray. We’re just not making every moment about following Jesus. And you know what? That’s completely reasonable. But as you know by now, we’re not after a reasonable commitment to Jesus here at Fresh Faith. Our goal is to become unreasonably committed followers of Jesus. That doesn’t mean we don’t slip into the groove of reasonable commitment every once in a while. It means that when we do, we recognize it and repent, and we realign ourselves to unreasonable commitment.
You might be thinking, This sounds a bit fanatic… and difficult! It shouldn’t be that hard - I think you’re overcomplicating it. You’re probably right. It is totally over the edge, and it’s very difficult and seemingly burdensome. I told you it wasn’t easy in the first paragraph. Being a Christian is easy, but following Jesus is hard work. What you’ll find, however, is that what seems to be burdensome actually brings the joy and freedom that you can’t get any other way. We work so hard to obtain it by focusing on everything else but Jesus; yet it can only be obtained by making His Kingdom and His righteousness the priority (Mt. 6:33).
Following insinuates a couple things:
1. You’re not the leader.
It insinuates that Jesus is the leader, and you are following Him. That means you’re not in charge; He is. It means that you don’t decide where to go and what to do; He does. You’re not leading, you’re just following. It’s an easy burden to carry (Mt. 11:28-30), because you’re not carrying the weight of the responsibility of where you end up and how it all works out. You’re just a follower. I’m convinced that we need to spend less time learning how to lead and more time learning how to follow. If we do, we’ll discover that as we’re following Him, He’s positioned us to lead as we follow. Your level of leading will never surpass your level of following. Follow well and you’ll lead well.
2. You’re not standing still.
It also insinuates that you’re always in motion. Following is active, not passive. If you’re in the same place spiritually (or emotionally, physically, psychologically, etc.) that you were last year or last month, are you still following? There’s no such thing as ‘maintenance mode’ when you’re following Jesus; there’s always work to be done and improvements to be made. Here’s another question that may offend you: If you still believe the same things you did last year or last decade, are you still following? Let’s be real. It’s not like we read the Bible one time and have it all figured out. When we follow Jesus, we encounter so many situations in life and revelations from His Word that should challenge and refine our faith and beliefs. It may reaffirm some of our beliefs, and it may recalculate some of our beliefs. Personally, I know that not all of my beliefs were in-line with what Scripture was teaching. In those instances, I had to realign my beliefs with what the Bible said. Sometimes it didn’t make sense to me logically'; but I knew I wasn’t in charge, I was just following.
As easy as it is to stop following Jesus, it’s just not worth it. It’s not worth the loss of love, joy, and peace, not to mention the rest of the fruits of the Spirit. Those are great indicators, by the way, of how your following is going. Can you substitute your name in there? (I.e., Aaron is patient, Aaron is kind, Aaron is faithful, Aaron is gentle, and - the hardest in my opinion - Aaron is self-control). That’s a sure wake up call, huh? Not sure I’m at the place where even half of the fruits of the Spirit would be true for me. But as we follow, we gain ground. It’s hard, it takes work and discipline. And it’s worth it. So keep going; just another step, just another day. Never stop following Jesus.
