John 10:1-16
I don’t know if kids still play follow the
leader, or if they have even heard of it today, but we played it a lot in my
neighborhood growing up. An interesting thing is that everyone wanted to be the
leader. The leader always looked good; the leader could do whatever they
wanted; and everyone else had to follow, imitate, and stumble along, trying to
keep up with the leader. In order to be a good follower, you had to keep your eyes
on the leader; and you had to keep up with the leader, if you lagged behind you
couldn’t see what the leader was doing. It seems to me that although we are
grown up, the game hasn’t changed much, the rules are the same, but the stakes
are much higher.
All of life, the true quality of life, as
well as the outcome of life depends on whether or not we choose to be the
leader of our own destiny, or we choose to follow someone much wiser and fit to
lead. In the case of a “Christian” that leader would be Christ. Sometimes when someone fits our perception of a leader we hear the comment “He or She is a born leader”…Do you think that is true? John Maxwell tells the story of traveling through a town where he asked a man sitting on the porch; “Where any great leaders born here”? To which the man replied; “Nope, just babies”! Leadership is a quality that is both learned and earned, and in the case of the church, a good leader must also be a good follower!
From the time we were born we have been hearing voices of those who would attempt to be our leaders in life…Who are they? ( Our parents, our teachers, our siblings, our peers, our preachers, Sunday school teachers, the voice of the media, politicians, etc. ) Which is true? Which can we trust? Which should we follow?
One thing that is true of the difference between believers and followers is that believer’s say “I will be in control of my life; I will make something of my life; and I will try to follow Jesus along the way” A true follower says “I think I will follow Jesus and let Him make something of my life.” Followers refuse to just be saved and on their way to heaven, their life is a relationship, an adventure, a passionate pursuit to follow the example of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, and through this passionate seeking, to find and know God. God, who said, “If you seek me with all your heart, if you search as if looking for gold or silver, you will find me”… Theirs is to live the Spirit led life that Paul talks about. They are noticeably different from everyone else. After all, we don’t find joy in a marriage just because we say we are married…the joy comes from the relationship! … And, like a marriage, “followership” is a life long relationship.
One more thing… Sometimes we may make a wrong decision because we decide it’s our turn to lead… or because we have been distracted by some other seductive voice… but, as followers we know we can realize our mistake and get back to following the leader. Staying on the right path, doing what the leader does and keeping in step with the leader never gets easy…in fact it gets increasingly harder, because from “him who has much, much more will be expected”…. This is why Jesus says, “count the cost”… For those who decide to “kick it up a notch”…to move up a level from believer to follower or disciple, there is no question that the cost will be great, but the reward is worth everything that is required.
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