To Be a Follower (not an admirer)

When Jesus concluded the “Sermon on the Mount,” Matthew records that “the crowds were amazed at His teaching….” But Jesus is very clear with His words at the close of the “sermon.”  He was not looking for people to be amazed at His teach; He was looking for people to put His words into practice.  He was not looking for admirers but for followers.

Soren Kierkegaard puts it this way: “It is well known that Christ consistently used the expression ‘follower.’  He never asks for admirers, worshippers, or adherents.  No, he calls disciples.  It is not adherents of a teaching but followers of a life Christ is looking for…. The admirer never makes any true sacrifices.  He always plays it safe.  Though in words, phrases, songs, he is inexhaustible about how highly he prizes Christ, he renounces nothing, will not reconstruct his life, and will not let his life express what it is he supposedly admires.  Not so for the follower.  No, no.  The follower aspires with all his strength to be what he admires.” 

Mark Labberton adds, “Jesus does not say, ‘Believe me,’ but rather ‘Follow me.’  If we are going to pursue God’s call, it’s an act of trusting and following—of behaving and living in ways that reflect our life and purposes.  We aren’t saved by our actions, but we are saved for our actions to become those that make God’s life in Jesus Christ visible.”

An old story is told about a new minister in a small town.  One afternoon he visited the home of one of the parishioners while the husband was away at work.  When the husband returned home and the wife told him about the minister’s visit, the husband asked, “What did he say?”  The wife replied, “He asked, ‘Does Christ live here?’  I didn’t know what to answer.”

With a flushed face, the husband asked, “Why didn’t you tell him that we go to church and say our prayers and read our Bible?”

The wife answered, “He didn’t ask me any of those things.  He only asked, ‘Does Christ live here?’ and I didn’t know how to answer that question.” 

That’s the critical question for us: Does Christ live here?  Can His life in us be seen in how we work and play and interact with others and conduct ourselves in public and in private?  Do I merely admire Him?  Or do I follow Him?

Bill Donahue points out, “The English word obey means ‘to hear toward’ or ‘to submit to the control of,’ which is why we can obey our passions, our instincts, our conscience, our teachers and so on.  When we obey God, we place ourselves under the authority of God and we listen to His voice.  As a result we feel His love.” (In the Company of Jesus, p. 157)

That’s what Jesus wants for us.  He wants us to listen to His voice and to put His words into practice, and, as a result of that, to feel His love.  Jesus compares this to building one’s house upon rock.  Such a life will withstand the toughest storms of life.

Gracious God, I admit that I am inclined to be an admirer of You rather than a follower.  I am inclined to prefer a faith that looks for blessings to be poured upon me rather than a faith that calls for sacrifice from me.  But I want a faith that is real, and a faith that is real involves putting Your words into practice.  So I pray for You to help me to be Your follower rather than Your admirer. 

Look for the ‘spittin image’ of Jesus

Stuart Briscoe shares a humorous story with a serious moral:  “One of my young colleagues was officiating at the funeral of a war veteran.  The dead man’s military friends wished to have a part in the service at the funeral home, so they requested the pastor to lead them down to the casket, stand with them for a solemn moment of remembrance, and then lead them out through the side door.  This he proceeded to do, but unfortunately the effect was somewhat marred when he picked the wrong door.  The result was that they marched with military precision into a broom closet, in full view of the mourners, and had to beat a hasty retreat covered with confusion.  This…story illustrates a cardinal rule or two.  First, if you’re going to lead, make sure you know where you’re going.  Second, if you’re going to follow, make sure that you are following someone who knows what he or she is doing!” 

These “rules” become even more critical when it comes to matters of integrity and trust and the treatment of people in the church.  Andy Frost speaks on behalf of people who have lost their faith because they were abused in churches: “They have not been let down by Jesus but in some way they have been let down or hurt by the very people who claim to represent Him.  Their stories are painful to listen to…stories of cover-ups, hypocrisy, gossip and the abuse of power.”

An unidentified victim of molestation in a church shared this report of personal disillusionment: “Shocking, bewildering and devastating.  I was taught to unconditionally trust the church and clergy.  The actions of [the priest] broke this trust.  I had nowhere to go.  I was too embarrassed to tell my mother, and I did not trust the church.  This led to inner conflict, confusion, fear, trauma and anxiety.  I lost my faith, my respect for the church, my self-confidence and esteem.”

No wonder Jesus uses such harsh language when He speaks of abusive spiritual leaders in Matthew 7:15: “Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

How are we to discern which leader we can trust as opposed to which leader we should avoid (or repudiate or report)? 

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:16 and 7:20, “By their fruit you will recognize them.”

In other words, we are to look for evidence of integrity, humbleness, and compassion in the life of a “leader.”  If such qualities are lacking, turn away. 

Dwight D. Eisenhower pointed out, “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity.  Without it, no real success is possible no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in the army or an office.”  Athanasius of Alexandria, who lived about 16 centuries before Eisenhower, adds, “You cannot put straight in others what is warped in yourself.”

Integrity, humbleness and compassion are obligatory qualities for a Christian leader, because a Christian leader must bear the likeness of Christ.  Without bearing the likeness of Christ a person is not fit to be a Christian leader.  Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw explain, “In the South we have a saying: ‘You are the spittin image’ of someone.  Folks still speculate over how exactly the phrase originated, but I’ve heard it put like this: It’s shorthand for ‘spirit and image.’  Spittin image.  It means more than just that you look like that person. It goes beyond just appearance to include character and temperament.  It means that you remind people of that person.  You have their charisma.  You do the same things they did.  In the truest sense, Christians are to be the spittin image of Jesus in the world.  We are to be the things he was.  We are to preach the things he preached and live the way he lived.  We are to follow in the footsteps of our rabbi so closely that we get his dust on us.  We are to remind the world of Jesus.”

When the ‘spittin image’ of Jesus is in a leader, marvelous things can happen.  William Willimon shares, “Philip Haille wrote of the little village of Le Chambon in France, a town whose people, unlike others in France, hid their Jews from the Nazis.  Haille went there, wondering what sort of courageous, ethical heroes could risk all to do such extraordinary good.  He interviewed people in the village and was overwhelmed by their ordinariness.  They weren’t heroes or smart, discerning people.  Haille decided that the one factor that united them was their attendance, Sunday after Sunday, at their little church, where they heard the sermons of Pastor Trochme.  Over time, they became by habit people who just knew what to do and did it.  When it came time for them to be courageous, the day the Nazis came to town, they quietly did what was right.  One old woman, who faked a heart attack when the Nazis came to search her house, later said, ‘Pastor always taught us that there comes a time in every life when a person is asked to do something for Jesus.  When our time came, we knew what to do.”

When people follow a leader who genuinely seeks to be the ‘spittin image’ of Jesus, marvelous things happen. 

The Openhearted God

Do you picture God as having a closed fist or an open hand?  Do you picture God as clinging tightly or giving generously? 

The way we answer these questions affects the way we interact with God in prayer.  If we perceive God as tightfisted, why should we bother praying?  Why should we waste time or energy waiting for an answer from a miserly Deity?  Why would we expect a clinging God—a selfish God—to give open-heartedly to us?

But if the material world reveals anything to us about its Inventor, we find evidence to the abundant generosity of God.  Jill Foley Turner remarks, “We know that the whole of creation declares the glory of God (Psalm 19:1), but it also demonstrates His generosity.  Our…Creator perfectly crafted a world which sustains our human lives…. But God did not stop at life and breath and sustainability.  Beyond our survival, the Bible says He considers our delight (1 Timothy 6:17).  He made seas and mountains and rivers.  He made 750,000 species of insects, 400,000 species of flowers, 200,000 species of edible plants, 10,000 species of birds, and stars too numerous to count.  Every good thing a person enjoys in life is a gift from God (James 1:17).  He created our universe with perfect elegance and complexity.  He designed with superfluous creativity.  Then He gave us senses of sight and sound and touch and taste, so we could experience the richness of these gifts.  The Provider of our needs is also our source of never-ending pleasure (Psalm 16:11).”

No wonder Psalm 145:16 proclaims, “You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”

We see the generosity of God in nature because God is generous by nature.  God’s heart is inclined toward giving generously to His children.    In Matthew 7:9-11, Jesus announces, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”

God is generous toward His children whom He loves, but His generosity is not a fairytale—they-all-lived-happily—kind of generosity.  Kate Bowler, an Assistant Professor at Duke Divinity School, has experienced this.  At 35 years of age, when her son was just 1 year old, Bowler was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.  Despite surgery, her cancer is considered incurable.  Every two months, her doctors decide whether she is able to continue with the trial medication she is taking.  As a result, she says that she lives in two-month increments.  In the preface to her book, Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved, she describes what went through her mind when she found out about her cancer: “One moment I was a regular person with regular problems.  And the next, I was someone with cancer.  Before my mind could apprehend it, it was there—swelling to take up every space my imagination could touch.  A new and unwanted reality.  There was a before, and now there was an after.  Time slowed to a pulse.  Am I breathing?   I wondered.  Do I want to?  Every day I prayed the same prayer: God, save me.  Save me.  Save me.  Oh, God, remember my baby boy.  Remember my son and my husband before you return me to ashes.  Before they walk this earth alone.  I plead with a God of Maybe, who may or may not let me collect more years.  It is a God I love, and a God that breaks my heart.” (p. xiv-xv)

The struggles Bowler faces are real and daunting.  The conclusion to her story is uncertain.  But later in her book, Bowler shares, “At a time when I should have felt abandoned by God, I was not reduced to ashes.  I felt like I was floating, floating on the love and prayers of all those who hummed around me like worker bees, bringing notes and flowers and warm socks and quilts embroidered with words of encouragement.  They came in like priests and mirrored back to me the face of Jesus.  When they sat beside me, my hand in their hands, my own suffering began to feel like it had revealed to me the suffering of others, a world of those who, like me, are stumbling in the debris of dreams they thought they were entitled to and plans they didn’t realize they had made.” (p. 121)

Bowler experienced the generosity of God amidst her struggles through the care of others.  No wonder Jesus goes on to instruct us in Matthew 7:12, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”  As we receive the open-heartedness of God toward us, we are called on to pass it along to others.

Measure by Compassion

As I read the Sermon on the Mount I find myself challenged deeply by the things Jesus says. 

In Matthew 7:1-2, He says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

This does not mean that I am to avoid identifying evil as evil or that I should ever sidestep taking appropriate actions to confront evil.  Martin Luther King, Jr. correctly comments, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.  He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

We must be quick and conscientious to judge evil, but we must be careful about how we judge people.  Specifically, I must take to heart that the measure I use in judging others will be the measure that is used in judging me:

If I hope people will be understanding toward me when I have had a bad day, I should keep in mind that the person who is irritating me may be having a bad day.

If I would like others to be sympathetic toward me when I fall on my face and make a fool of myself, I should try to be sympathetic toward others when they fall on their face.

If I want others to give me a second chance when I have messed up, I should be willing to give others a second chance.

If I want people to hear me out before jumping to conclusions about me, I should be willing to listen carefully and thoroughly to what others have to say.

If I hope people will speak respectfully to me and about me, I should be intentional about speaking respectfully to and about others.

If I long for God to handle me with grace and forgiveness, do I dare withhold grace and forgiveness from others?

The “measure” we use makes a difference on the people around us.  Dorothy Law Nolte observed the truth of this in the lives of children.  She wrote,

“If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.  If children live with hostility, they learn to fight…. If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy…. If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.  If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.  If children live with tolerance, they learn patience…. If children live with acceptance, they learn to love…. If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.  If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.  If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.  If children live with fairness, they learn justice….” 

The “measure” we use also makes a difference in us.  In his book Abba’s Child, Brennan Manning quotes from Anthony DeMello’s book The Way to Love: 

“What is indiscriminate compassion?  ‘Take a look at a rose.  Is it possible for the rose to say, “I’ll offer my fragrance to good people and withhold it from bad people”?  Or can you imagine a lamp that withholds its rays from a wicked person who seeks to walk in its light?  It could do that only by ceasing to be a lamp.  And observe how helplessly and indiscriminately a tree gives its shade to everyone, good and bad, young and old, high and low; to animals and humans and every living creature—even to the one who seeks to cut it down.  This is the first quality of compassion—its indiscriminate character.’”

If I hope to be as genuine (as consistent) as a rose or as a lamp or as a shade tree, then I must seek to be genuine (consistent) in my own life.  If I hope for compassion to live within me, then it must be something that flows naturally (indiscriminately) from me.  “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Beware the assault of worry

Imagine something disturbing: Imagine a wolf attacking an animal. 

According to Conservation Officer Al Lay, “Wolves will attack a single or a small number of animals at one time.  The attacks are normally to the rear of the animal, where the wolf or wolves will tear at the upper hindquarter, rectum, or vulva.  This will cause the prey animal to go into shock from blood loss; it may travel a distance, lie down, stiffen, and eventually succumb to the injuries.  The wolves will follow the heavy scent trail and begin to consume…. Another method of attack is disemboweling, whereas the wolf will run beside the prey animal, bite into the flank area and pull the hide away from the stomach section, allowing the stomach, intestines to fall away.”

A Rancher’s Guide to Wolf Depredation adds, “The prey is often left to become weak and stiff.  Wolves begin to feed when the prey is knocked over or falls from weakness.  The bite usually causes damage deep in the underlying tissues.  Cattle severely injured by wolves appear dazed and exhibit a characteristic spread-eagle stance.  They are reluctant to move because of the deep pain.” 

I asked you to imagine this because our English word “worry” has its origin here.  Our English word “worry” comes from the old German word wurgen then wyrgan in old English.  Originally, the word meant “to strangle,” or “to choke,” or “to harass by tearing or biting—especially tearing or biting at the throat.”  Initially “worry” was used to describe the kind of thing a wolf would do to a deer or a lamb.” 

Anxiety tends to do to us what a wolf does to its prey.  Emily Holland points out that excess worry can cause disrupted sleep, headaches, difficulty concentrating, nausea, muscle tension, exhaustion, irritability, elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and difficulty making decisions.  Worry can leave us feeling as weak and debilitated and dazed and wounded as an animal that has been attacked by a wolf.

What intensifies worry is the fear that we are facing our struggles alone, that we have been abandoned in our troubles.  What reduces worry is the conviction that we are loved and that we are accompanied even in the midst of our hard times.

Paul Stanley shares an experience he had in Vietnam in 1967: “On one occasion after the enemy had withdrawn, I came upon several soldiers surrounding a wounded Viet Cong.  Shot through the lower leg, he was hostile and frightened, yet helpless.  He threw mud and kicked with his one good leg when anyone came near him.  When I joined the circle around the wounded enemy, one soldier asked me, ‘Sir, what do we do?  He’s losing blood fast and needs medical attention.’  I looked down at the struggling Viet Cong and saw the face of a 16- or 17-year-old boy.

“I unbuckled my pistol belt and hand grenades so he could not grab them.  Then, speaking gently, I moved toward him.  He stared fearfully at me as I knelt down, but he allowed me to slide my arms under him and pick him up.  As I walked with him toward a waiting helicopter, he began to cry and hold me tight.  He kept looking at me and squeezing me tighter.  We climbed into the helicopter and took off.

“During the ride, our young captive sat on the floor, clinging to my leg.  Never having ridden in a helicopter, he looked out with panic as we gained altitude and flew over the trees.  He fixed his eyes back on me, and I smiled reassuringly and put my hand on his shoulder. 

“After landing, I picked him up and walked toward the medical tent.  As we crossed the field, I felt the tenseness leave his body and his tight grasp loosen.  His eyes softened, and his head leaned against my chest.  The fear and resistance were gone.”

 When we think that we are alone in our struggles, our worry intensifies.  When we discover that we are loved and accompanied—even in our darkest hour—our worry diminishes.  

Because Jesus cares about our worry-ravaged souls, Jesus assures us, in Matthew 6:26, how deeply we matter to Him.  He says, “Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?” 

Max Lucado sums it up well, “There is no moment when the Father’s eye is off me, or His attention is distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when His care falters.  I never go unnoticed.” 

Worries will assault us, but we do not have to make our home in them.  We can set up our home instead in the conviction that we are loved by God and that we are accompanied by God—even through the darkest hours of our lives.