Followers

Stained glass depiction by Alfred Handel of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, St. John the Baptist Anglican Church, New South Wales, Author Toby Hudson (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported)

Our culture values leadership.  Leaders, we believe, are brave and independent.  We prefer to imagine ourselves that way.

Social media encourages this fantasy.  Our readers are deliberately characterized as “followers”.  We pursue such followers by all possible means, endlessly tracking the latest totals.  But we do not enjoy being viewed as followers, ourselves.

The reality, of course, is that most human beings are followers.  This is not a mark of shame.  Presumably, we were engineered to follow for a purpose.  What matters is the leader we choose.

“ ‘And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me’ ” (Matt. 10: 38).

Christians are invited to follow in the footsteps of Christ.  That is a call to suffering, not worldly glory.  But it is the highest calling of all.

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4: 1-3).

The qualities involved are humility, gentleness, patience, and compassion.  For the most part, not qualities our society admires or rewards.

The message was the same in the Old Testament, as the New Testament.

“So he answered and said to me: ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:  “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” Says the Lord of hosts…’ ” (Zech. 4: 6).

After the Babylonian Captivity, the Israelites who attempted to rebuild the temple lost heart at the obstacles they faced.

The prophet Zechariah was instructed to advise them that the temple would not be rebuilt by virtue of their resources or individual strength.  It would be rebuilt by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Often, our very cleverness can constitute a hindrance to the Holy Spirit.  This is not to say that Christians should cultivate ignorance.  Nor is it to suggest that we can subvert God’s plans.  Rather, it is intended as a caution.

May pride in our own abilities not interfere with our reliance on the leading of the Holy Spirit.

May God make us followers worthy of Him.

My dear friend, Marie Williams, went home to be with the Lord on Easter Sunday 4/21/19.  Marie was an abuse survivor and a woman of great faith.  She blogged at https://mariewilliams53.wordpress.com/ and https://riceandpease.wordpress.com/ .

READERS CAN FIND MY VIEWS ON ABUSE AND ABUSE-RELATED ISSUES AT ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse https://avoicereclaimed.com