What Does Following Jesus Look Like?

When you and I as Christians follow Jesus as we should, we will do what He did, and that is love the lost and point them to Jesus.

What Does Following Jesus Look Like?

"Follow Me."

(Matthew 4:19)

This is literally a command from Jesus to come behind or come after Him. The Greek words are deute opiso, which we could translate this way: "I give you the command to come to the back or behind." Deute is the imperative form of eimi, "to go" (Strong's Concordance, p.21). When you study Jesus' life in the New Testament, you quickly discover that He loved people, was on a divine rescue mission, and met physical and spiritual needs. Dave Kinnaman says in his book Unchristian that the greatest hindrance to the church today seeing more people come to faith in Christ is Christians. Lost people watch us and observe how we treat people. If our lives are no different from theirs, then they are not interested. One writer put it this way: "Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning." (Richard Stearns, The Hole in Our Gospel, p. 13.)

When you and I as Christians follow Jesus as we should, we will do what He did, and that is love the lost and point them to Jesus. The problem is in our followship. We are not properly following God, and as a result, we are not leading people to God. I have learned in my own life that when I am out of fellowship and followship with Christ, then I do not witness.

One day, when I was a seminary professor teaching evangelism in Wake Forest, NC, I had my children with me, and we were driving home. I was tired, hungry, and just wanted to get home. I was not in the best frame of mind. We drove past this elaborate Buddhist Temple, and my daughter, Hannah, who was 6 years old at the time, said, "Dad, what is that?" I said, "It's a Buddhist Temple." Then she asked me if they loved Jesus. I replied, "Not like you and I love Jesus." Then she said something for which I was not prepared! She said, "Dad, let's go and tell them about Jesus!" I looked in the rear-view mirror and could tell she was very serious. I said, "No, we are going home." Then she said, "Dad, why won't you go back and tell them about Jesus?" I was irritated, and said sternly, "Be quiet; we are going home." I remind you, I was a seminary professor teaching people how they are to love people and share Jesus with others! The Holy Spirit convicted my heart, and I turned around and headed back to the temple. When I pulled into the parking lot, fear gripped my heart. With my hands on the steering wheel, I heard this voice in the back seat say, "Dad, you can stay in the car, and I will go tell them about Jesus!" Wow, I was convicted. So I took my kids, and we went into the temple. I got to share with a Buddhist monk, and it was a great visit.

I want to be so in tune with Christ, in sweet fellowship with Him, following His life and example, that I do not miss an opportunity to tell others about Him.

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Podcast of the Week

Conversing with Next-Gen Leaders, Pt. 2

Pastor Danny concludes his conversation with Pastor Gary Hendrickson and Christina Cavazos, fellow staff members at GHBC. Gary is pastor of the young adult ministry, and Christina serves as both Gary's admin and the church's community outreach director. They finish discussing how they approach ministering to different generations, what is unique about the current generation of young people, and other related topics. Be sure to check out Part 1 of this conversation if you haven't already!

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