BELIEVER OR FOLLOWER?

BELIEVER OR FOLLOWER?

“At times our evangelical fervor has come at the cost of spiritual formation. For this reason, we can end up with a church full of believers, but followers of Jesus can be hard to come by.”  Richard Rohr

How deep are we willing to go to really know Christ?  We say we love him. We pray to him constantly.  We thank him when things go our way. No one can say we don’t believe in him.  But that is not the question.  The question is how willing are we to follow him?  To follow him does not mean just acknowledging him, it means living like him. It means that compassion should motivate everything we say and do. 

If we are really seeking to come into a living relationship with Jesus, we are met with the central challenge Christianity hands us. Indeed, how do we put on the mind of Christ? How do we seethrough his eyes? How do we feel through his heart? How do we learn to respond to the world with that same wholeness and healing love he had? 

A man once told me he couldn’t follow Jesus, even though he believed in Him, because Jesus said,  “When someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other.”

The man said that was too wimpy. If we take Jesus’ words to mean we should stand still and be beaten, of course, it seems absurd.  But once we realize that Jesus was clarifying for the Jewish people the true meaning of an eye for an eye. (A code they had lived by for centuries) That it does not mean return hurt for hurt. For example, if your neighbor kills your cow, you do not have God’s permission to kill his son.  Responding to anger with calm could change everything.  The power of the Spirit takes over. Jesus didn’t just say it, he did it on the Cross and forgave his murderers.

When Jesus forgave his killers, the Centurion was moved to recognize that Jesus is the Christ. We have accepted his statement as justification for our faith when in fact it is a statement of his own, that he is ready to actually follow Christ. If he was the Roman whose servant Jesus saved, and I believe he was, they had a connection. He knew Jesus. Jesus was real to him. 

Jesus is not real to many people. He has been lifted to such heights that he seems unapproachable and yet the followers of Jesus persevered because he was real to them.  It’s all there, the Real Jesus, waiting for us to delve into the scriptures to find its deepest meanings and to guide us to a life in Jesus. There is no reason to be timid about it.  It isn’t as though Jesus would lead us astray. There will be questions, of course, but that is part of the journey.  When questions arise, head for Google. 

There are so many great books to aid in this journey.  Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge  – Who is This Man? by John Ortberg – The Jesus I Never Knew by Phillip Yancy.  All available on Amazon. 

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA