“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
–Matthew 4:19

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
–Matthew 16:24

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
–Matthew 9:9

Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
–Matthew 19:21

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
–John 10:27

Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.
–John 12:26

Following Jesus is one of the most central parts of discovering our identity as a disciple of Jesus, so it is no wonder there is immeasurable ink that has been expended in exploring the concept. Churches open the doors on Sunday mornings to let the worshippers come in, and inside the sanctuaries are filled with songs of adoration, confession, and hope. Sermons are preached about devotion to God, imploring people to follow Jesus better.

So why do so many individuals struggle to follow in the footsteps of Jesus?

That question haunts me. If we accept that Jesus was the son of God, and that the Gospels are a true accounting of his life and ministry, then following Jesus should be nothing short of transformational. The lame walked, the blind could see, and the outcasts were adopted. Yet ‘following’ Jesus today looks nothing like leaving behind our lives to sit at the feet of a Rabbi and become like him.

Perhaps it is time to accept that the outcome our culture is seeing is exactly what the process is designed to produce. In a world filled with consumerism, where we are constantly invited to lay down our money for things that will make our life better, the tendencies run a little deeper than we’re willing to admit. We only know how to speak in the language of consuming, and so our worship of the god we create looks the same.

Asking the Right Questions

Lately, I’ve been having more and more conversations with individuals who are struggling to make sense of the world around them. They have engaged in the hedonism, the consumerism, and the philosophical, but they can’t see a way to truly transform the world around them. Everything has become so hopeless.

These are the heart questions that matter.

Is the world always going to be like this? Can I do anything that will actually matter? How do I make sense of the evil in the world?

These are questions that Jesus answers. They resonated with individuals thousands of years ago, long before the enlightenment, the industrial revolution, the internet, or post-modernity. These questions point us towards the language written on our souls, that we were meant to be something. Not do something, be something – discover our identity.

Following the Answers

The life of Jesus transforms our entire approach. Following this middle eastern Rabbi from two thousand years ago invites us not to do more, produce more, or sacrifice ourselves on the altar of busyness. No, he invites us to come and sit at his feet and discover a completely different way of being human.

But I don’t want to.

That comment might surprise you, but it lies latent in the dark recesses of all of our hearts. To follow Jesus means to lay down my ability to control my own destiny. To accept his teachings is to acknowledge that I don’t have the answers. To make sense of the brokenness in the world is to acknowledge my part in it. It invites me to a sense of absolute truth, and it is like cracking the door to high noon after spending a week in the pitch black.

But I need to.

This is the place that the Spirit waits so patiently for each of us. Not to coerce us into a relationship, or seek to explain to us why it is the rational place. No, the Spirit waits for our entire being to cry out in desperation for His healing – that is when we are really ready for the healing He brings.

When Jesus invited others to follow Him, he was calling them out of their regular lives into obedience, and simultaneously answering the deepest questions of their heart. They were seen, they were heard, and they were invited to discover their real identity in the arms of a loving God.

That same invitation is available to you today. To lay down the shame, the guilt, the busyness of life that drives you to earn the love. That invitation invites you to hear the words of truth spoken over you and know that you are accepted, loved, and invited to follow Him right in this instant.

That is a message that renews a world, breaks down kingdoms, and ushers in a new Kingdom. That is the message of God.