Follower of Christ

So if our Christianity is not determined by our “religion” what, then is a Christian?

My favorite definition is that a Christian is a Follower of Christ.

I like the term “Follower” for several reasons.

First, we are all following something. We can call it the world or sin or fashion or some one or some thing. When we become a Christian we change direction. We stop following what we have been following and follow Christ. That’s where the term “repentance” comes from. We turn away from what we have had our faith in and put our faith in Jesus. Following is an act of faith. We determine that the one we are following knows where we need to go and can take us there.

Following is a full time job. Consider life as a deep forest. If we take our eyes off of Jesus for just a second, before we know it we have lost our way. A Follower of Christ has his eyes on Jesus full time, all the time.

Following is a step by step process. We follow one step at a time. We don’t worry about where we are headed or where we have been.  We don’t worry about where others are. We focus on the step we need to take now, today. Following is a very personal “today” focused thing.

The Great Commission is to tell others to follow Jesus and not to follow us. This is where so many get messed up. They see the benefits of following Christ so they start following someone who is following Him. That can work for a while. But there are problems with this approach. We are all still sinners. Someone following us is going to fall when we fall. He will go astray when we go astray. That’s why we focus on telling others to follow Christ.

Further, not everyone starts the journey from the same place. Not every has the same path. Only by following Jesus can each one make sure he is on the right path. The origin of the word “standard” comes from ancient battle. Each portion of the army had a flag which was held high on a pole. Battle can be very confusing. Each soldier followed the standard of his unit. Jesus is our standard. Follow Him, not other followers of him, just Him.

How can we tell who else is following. This is the great thing about being a follower. Since it’s a full time job, we don’t have time to be wondering who else is following. That’s not our job. Now you will hear some say we are not to judge, but we are to be fruit inspectors. To me that’s just an excuse for judging in a different form. Sure, if we are following Jesus there will be fruit in our lives. That’s how we know WE are on the right track. It’s not so important that we know that someone else is.

Be blessed my fellow follower.

Nick

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