ARE YOU A REAL FOLLOWER?
INTRODUCTION: You can’t be a follower without being a believer but it is possible to believe in Jesus without actually following Jesus. I’m not saying that a believer isn’t a follower. You will find plenty of places in scripture that refer to Christians as ‘believers’. I believe these references imply true followers. But there is a distinction to be made between simply believing in Jesus and truly following Jesus. We need to be sure we know which category we fit in.
1) We can claim to be a follower but that doesn’t mean we are one.
• It’s about walking in His light. 1st John 1:5-7. A believer will know certain things about Jesus but a follower will have an intimate relationship with Jesus. We can’t follow who we don’t know. We need to know Jesus-what he said, how he said it, what he did, how he did it-and imitate it. We can say we have a relationship with Jesus but if we are living a worldly lifestyle we don’t have fellowship with Jesus because there is no fellowship between light and darkness. Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” If we are true followers of Jesus we will not be trying to spend some time in the darkness and some in the light. We won’t try to have the best of both worlds. We won’t try to be a friend of the world and a friend of Jesus. If I’m a follower then I’ll be walking in the light of Christ.
• It’s about walking in His obedience. Titus 1:16, “Although they claim to know God by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” We need to walk the talk. Lip service is not enough. As someone said, "Not all who profess Christ really possess Christ." In A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson wrote, "It is not difficult in our world to get a person interested in the message of the Gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier Christians called holiness." I can claim to be a Christian but if my actions contradict what I claim to be then I am not walking in obedience.
• It’s about walking in His will. Matt. 7:21-23. We can say Jesus is our Lord but that doesn’t mean he is. Jesus said he didn’t know them. It’s probably safe to say that these people didn’t know him very well either. They weren’t seeking to do God’s will. They were doing their own will but attaching Jesus’ name to it. Putting Jesus’ name next to my agenda does not make me a Christian. Jesus said in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?” We can use the term ‘Lord’ too loosely. If Jesus is truly my Lord then I’ve made him my master, my ruler. But if I’m not serious then I’m just using the term ‘Lord’ as a token of recognition and I haven’t attached myself to the depth of meaning that it should hold for me. Jesus is Savior and Lord. You don’t make Jesus your Savior now and Lord later. You can’t have Jesus as your Savior unless you’re ready to make him your Lord also. I once lived as if you could separate those two terms. I was fine with Jesus being my Savior; I was all right with having my sins forgiven and being able to go to heaven. But it was obvious by how I lived my life after my “conversion” that I hadn’t made Jesus the Lord of my life. I still lived how I wanted to. Oh sure, I may have been obediently reading my bible and going to church (now and then), but I was still partying and sleeping around. Then one day it was pointed out to me by a minister that I had tried to make Jesus my Savior without making him my Lord. I realized that you can’t do that. If he’s not both he’s neither. For 10 years I thought I was saved, but I wasn’t. I knew I needed to be baptized again because I wasn’t serious the first time around. I claimed to be a Christian, but it was clear that I wasn’t. I was a believer, but I wasn’t a follower. A. W. Tozer was a man of God who was troubled with the idea that Christian profession does not demand obedience to Christ. He said, “[Years ago] no one would ever dare to rise in a meeting and say, “I am a Christian” if he had not surrendered his whole being to God and had taken Jesus Christ as his Lord as well as his Savior, and had brought himself under obedience to the will of the Lord. It was only then that he could say, “I am saved!” Today, we let them say they are saved no matter how imperfect and incomplete the transaction, with the [stipulation] that the deeper Christian life can be tacked on at some time in the future. Can it be that we really think that we do not owe Jesus Christ our obedience? We have owed Him our obedience ever since the second we cried out to Him for salvation, and if we do not give Him that obedience, I have reason to wonder if we are really converted! I see things and I hear of things that Christian people are doing, and as I watch them operate within the profession of Christianity I do raise the question of whether they have been truly converted. Brethren, I believe it is the result of faulty teaching to begin with. They thought of the Lord as a hospital and Jesus as the chief of staff to fix up poor sinners that had gotten into trouble! “Fix me up, Lord,” they have insisted, “so that I can go my own way!” That is bad teaching, brethren. The person who says, “Save me, Jesus, but stay out of my life!” is not a Christian. To that person, Christ says, “Why do you call we, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).”
2) How can I tell if I’m a follower?
• A follower is sold out. Luke 9:57-62. There is a cost to following Jesus. We can’t follow Christ only when it’s convenient to do so. We can’t be a true follower when we’re concerned about the affairs of the world. Jesus wants all our devotion. He wants us to be sold-out for him. Jesus said later in Luke 14:27, “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” And in verse 33, “In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” You cannot be Jesus’ disciple; you cannot be his follower unless you’re willing to surrender all. If we’re not ready and willing to totally commit our lives to serving Jesus then we cannot be his disciple because we’re not ready to be. In the beginning, Christians weren’t called Christians, they were called disciples. The names are interchangeable. You don’t become a Christian and then become a disciple. If you’re a Christian then you’re a disciple. Plus, it’s not just that if we’re not sold out that we can’t be his disciple, if we’re not sold out for Christ then we won’t be his disciple. If we’re not sold out then we won’t follow him; we won’t serve him. Jesus said we cannot serve two masters; we will love one and hate the other. We cannot split our love; we can’t be totally committed to two-only one. Luke 18:18-23. Jesus didn’t allow this man to be almost there. He didn’t say, “Well, you’re mostly committed, I guess that’s good enough.” No, he said, “one thing you lack. Go do this and then come and follow me.” One thing kept this man from following Jesus. One thing kept this person from being sold-out. Almost sold-out isn’t good enough. In order to be a true follower of Jesus we need to be totally committed. This doesn’t mean we have to be perfect in order to be a true follower. But we can’t willingly hold onto worldly things and be a true follower. We need to be willing to surrender all. All to Jesus I surrender; all to him I freely give. The line from that song needs to be the truth from our heart. If we are going to follow Jesus we need to be sold-out.
• A follower stands out. John 15:18-19. A follower of Jesus should act differently than the rest of the world. Unfortunately, however, too often those who say they are Christians tend to blend in too much with the rest of the world. According to the George Barna Research firm, 54% of all Americans polled indicated that they are committed to having a deeper connection with God, and that they would do whatever it takes to get and maintain that deeper relationship. 54%. What percentage of people in churches do you think the same holds true for? The answer. . .49%. According to George Barna, there are actually fewer people inside the church with a desire for a deeper connection with God and a readiness to do whatever it takes to make that happen than outside the church. Hardly a sign that we are behaving like true believers. How high is faith a priority? Of all the people in our nation, those who would hold their faith as their highest priority, comes in right around 15%. Of those in mainline, denominational, churches, it jumps up all the way to 18%. In some ways, we don’t look all that different from the world. How about one of today’s political hot buttons? 45% of all adults in our country say that abortion is a morally acceptable behavior. When polling people that identify themselves as born again Christians, you would expect the percentage to plummet, right? Well, it does, all the way to 33%. One out of every three self proclaimed born again Christians find abortion morally acceptable behavior. Are we behaving like followers of Jesus? How about one more? From the “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” department – 3% of all American households tithe to their place of worship. That number jumps when you look at born again Christians to 9%. Less than one out of every 10 Christians, and only 6% more than the number including all non-Christian households in America tithe to their church. 1st Pet. 2:9-12. We need to let out light shine; we need to stand out so that people will be drawn from the darkness into the light of Christ.
• A follower steps out. A true follower steps out in faith. And true faith is active faith. James 2:14-19. There are two kinds of faith-dead faith and saving faith. Dead faith intellectually acknowledges certain truths about Jesus but saving faith goes beyond believing and into action. It’s not just words; it’s works also. Saving faith is deeds backing up my words. (Story of tightrope walker-the man said he believed he could walk the wheelbarrow across the falls but wouldn’t get in when challenged) James concluded by saying that just believing is not enough. The demons believe too but they’re not going to heaven. You can’t just believe; you have to be a follower. You can’t just say you have faith you have to show it; you have to live it. You have to step out in faith and be obedient. James said earlier in 1:22, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” We need to be obedient doers of the word. A true follower is a servant, not a sitter. They’re a doer, not a snoozer. Jesus is looking for followers, not fans. He wants servants, not spectators. If we truly believe we will step it up and step out.
CONCLUSION: When Jesus came across Peter and Andrew fishing he told them very distinctly, ‘follow me’. And at once, they left their nets and followed Jesus. Then Jesus saw two other brothers, James and John. He did the same with them and they too, immediately left their boat and their father behind, and followed Jesus. And when Jesus found Matthew working in the tax collector’s booth he told him, ‘follow me’. Matthew got up left his post and followed Jesus. Jesus called to his Apostles the same way he calls to us today, ‘follow me’. In The Apostles' Creed for Everyman, William Barclay wrote, "Jesus did not say discuss me; he said follow me." We do not make terms with Christ; we surrender to Christ. We do not compromise with Christ; we submit to Christ. Christianity does not mean being interested in Jesus Christ; it means taking the same oath as princes take to a king or queen in a coronation ceremony and saying, "I am your liege man of life and limb, and faith and truth will I bear to you against all manner of folk. So help me God." Will we hold out or will we surrender? Will we compromise or will we submit? Jesus is calling to us to follow him wherever he leads us. How will you answer the call?
