Yes, Follow Me
GodWords Newsletter #71
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Kids in the 70s didn’t have cell phones. We had to actually play games with each other. One of the games we played was Follow the Leader. It’s just like it sounds: one kid was the leader, and the others had to do whatever they did. They might jump over a log, or spin around twice, and the players had to imitate them. Failure meant you were “out.”
There are variations. Simon Says is like that, but you’d only give verbal instructions. If you acted without hearing “Simon says,” you were out. We also played HORSE (or PIG)… where one person shot a basketball, and the others all had to make the same shot. The result was the same: if you copied the leader, you kept playing. If you messed up, you sat out until a new game began.
Part of the reason these games were fun is that they were inconsequential. It didn’t really matter if you won or lost… what mattered is that you enjoyed yourself, and being together.
As adults, we play a lot less. Life is more serious, as we have, you know, responsibilities and stuff. Part of growing up is accepting those responsibilities for ourselves. The apostle Paul put it this way: When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. That doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. It means that life is more than fun and games.
What a drag, right? Still, let’s put on our big people pants and talk about playing Follow the Leader again… but not like the kids. You know, Big People style.
In the first verse of 1 Corinthians 11, the apostle Paul wrote these words:
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Sounds good, right? I mean, Paul was a pretty big deal. His story is pretty epic. As with any of the apostles, he’d be a good example to follow. There’s only one problem: PAUL IS DEAD.
For the sake of brevity, I’ll leave the Beatles jokes on the back burner and get right to the question: are YOU able to say that to anyone else? Can you, like Paul, tell people to follow YOU as you follow Christ? If not, why not?
Are you young in the faith? You’re exempt… for now. Relax. Spend time being a follower. Find someone who’s following Jesus closely, and shadow them. Follow them as they follow Christ.
For those of us who’ve been around for a while - raise your hand if that’s you - maybe it’s time to grow up. Put childish things behind you. Maybe it’s time you were able to say, without flinching, that you’re someone worth following.
Responses to this usually go to two extremes:
Yeah, I’m awesome, or
No, I couldn’t possibly do that.
99% of the people you know would choose extreme #2. I’m not like Paul, they’d say. Don’t follow me, I’m flawed and sinful and broken and unworthy of that kind of attention. Well, maybe you ARE all of that. When are you going to change? When will someone be able to follow you?
It’s said that we can either be a good example or a cautionary tale. This message isn’t for everyone today, but it’s for everyone sometime. Put childish things behind you. Grow up, and grow into the adult, godly version of Follow the Leader. At some point, it’s GOT to be your turn.
Start today. Let me know how I can help.
I love you all.
❤️
PS: thanks to all of you who already lead, Big People style. It’s people like you who help people like me become more like Jesus.
Sorting the Silver
Have you ever felt odd? Strange? Different? Like everybody else fits, and you kind of stick out a bit? I have. If you have too, this is a good reminder.
Finding Jesus in Aisle 3
”I reflect on the story of Joseph, only one answer provides clarity to my quandary: God must be using this season of struggle to shape me into the person he needs me to become before I can fulfill the calling he laid on my heart.”
Secrets of the Cell
Michael Behe is a biochemist, and a leading proponent of the Intelligent Design movement. This link takes you to the first video in a playlist of ten, where Behe simply and plainly explains why Darwin’s theory of evolution is insufficient to explain the nature of life, and how the world around us came to be.
Impossible, Unrealistic, Sinful, Lazy
We will not wake up ten years from now and find we have passively taken on the character of God.
What Really Happened at the Council of Nicea?
One of the most common objections about the Bible is that it was supposedly created by Roman Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicea in AD 325. Of course, that’s not true. It’s mythology, not history. So what really happened at the council of Nicea?
It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies.
- Arthur Calwell
God, what were You doing?
What were You doing here?
I know that You are moving
But right now it's less than clear
Yellow Balloons by David Dunn
TRIGGER WARNING: this wonderful, amazing song was written in response to the death of David’s young niece. It’s sad and beautiful and poignant.
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Tony, I love this one—sent it on to many.
Thanks for keeping this conversation going. I enjoy reading your posts each day!
The way I understand 1 Corinthians is in light of the specific role Jesus gave Paul, to implement His grand strategy (Eph 3;8-10) setting in motion a global family movement that would continue to expand around the world until Jesus returns. That being the case, I think Paul’s argument in 1 Cor 11:1 (a hinge verse between two sections) is not necessarily a verse about Christian character or a call to be a shining example. I believe what Paul is saying there is that the Corinthians church needed to get back to living according to the patterns, principles and processes that Paul had spent years teaching them and carefully modeling for them since their inception.