A Led Leader

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23 NIV)

Following, for us, has been simplified.  All we need to do is follow Jesus and then God promises to make a home with us.  Following Jesus is the same as following God.

He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (John 14:24 NIV)

Jesus explains that this is simply because Jesus followed the Father in heaven.  When Jesus teaches, God teaches.  When Jesus warns, the Father is warning.  When Jesus forgives, our Father in heaven forgives us.  Jesus, whom we were able to see and hear, was the physical embodiment of a God whom we could not see and hear.  Jesus' teachings, then, make it easier for us to follow God because Jesus was so perfectly led by the Father.  Jesus was a led leader.

"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:25-26 NIV)

We can be led leaders, too.  The same Spirit who was dwelling in Jesus now dwells in us who are in Christ Jesus.  The same Father who led Jesus Counsels us through His Spirit.  All of it works together in perfect unity so that following one results in following the other.  They all (Father, Son, Spirit) lead us to the same truth and to following the same God.  When we do, it is a beautiful picture.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27 NIV)

How about you?  Do you follow God?  Does it result in peace?  Or, do you follow the world, which leaves you afraid?  Who leads you?  Where do you lead others?

Children Follow

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (Ephesians 6:1 NIV)

I still remember sitting in church services with my mom and dad.  Dad would be sitting in the middle with mom and I on either side.  Whenever this passage was being read from the pulpit, my dad would elbow me.  "Are you listening," he would ask.  "Pay attention to what he's saying."  Then he would wink at me.  Yeah, I got the point.

"Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise-- "so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." (Ephesians 6:2-3 NIV)

I don't really remember much about this second part of the passage, probably because dad was talking to me while they were reading it.  Now that I read it today, though, I really like this part.  Obeying my parents comes with a promise.  I will enjoy long life on the earth.  Not bad.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4 NIV)

I always remember this last part of the passage, though.  Maybe it was because dad was done picking on me by this time.  More probably, though, I remember it because it was the part I could use to pick on him.  Right about the time the person was reading this verse, I would elbow my dad.  "Are you listening," I would ask.  "Pay attention to what he's saying."  Then I would wink back.  Dad would smile.  He got the point, too.

I don't know if you've been tracking these blog post/devotionals for the past few days or not, but I want to pause for a moment to recap the picture thus far.  Children are supposed to follow their parents.  Wives follow their husbands as they follow the Lord.  Husbands love their wives in the same way they follow the Lord.  The Lord, Jesus, follows the Father and, as a result, every person, couple, and family are following God.  When we lead by following as God outlines here, we all end up walking together with God.

So, how about you?  Are you a follower?  Do you follow God?  Does it show? How?

Husbands and Wives Follow

In my parents' household, my father was clearly the head of the household.  He had his own chair.  He had his own table next to that chair.  He had (once the technology allowed) the remote.  He would make statements like, "As long as you live in my house, you live by my rules."  Maybe you can relate?

When people read Scripture, and especially the passages about husbands and wives, it often creates confusion and difficulty.  I often hear discussions over interpretations that somehow tell the wives they need to sit down, shut up, and submit to their husbands.  The husbands think they get to be the king of the castle.  The problem with this discussion is that is misses the point.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:21 NIV)

Paul starts the discussion about husband and wives, children and parents, and even slaves and masters with this verse.  He is telling everyone that we begin by following.  All of us start by following Christ.  When we follow Christ, we live our our roles in life as His follower.  This is important because Jesus said that anyone desiring to be first must be last and servant of all.  Leadership is not about control.  Leadership is about serving.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church-- for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:22-33 NIV)

My mom is sweet as apple pie.  She has always modeled a lifestyle of service to her husband, her children, her family, and her dance students.  (She was a dance teacher for many, many years.)  My dad served our community as a police officer.  Served us children as provider, protector, and loving leader in our household.  I regularly saw dad laying down his life for us children, too.

Mom and dad loved to get dressed up to go out dancing.  Dancing and roller-skate dancing were some of their favorite things to do.  This was how they spent their date time when they first met.  So, any opportunity to go out dancing, like a wedding, was fun for them.

I remember one wedding they attended for a nephew/niece that was right after mom had surgery.  She couldn't bend over far enough to put her shoes on and walking in her high heals was difficult.  When they arrived at the wedding, mom had her slippers on, but was all dressed up for the wedding and reception.  I still see the picture of my dad, in his suit, getting down on one knee to take off her slippers and put on her nice shoes for her.  Then, mom slid out of the car and, together, they walked over to the wedding to find their seats.  He regularly laid down his life for her.  She regularly served him.  It was a sight to see.

How about you?  Are you married?  If so, how do you treat your spouse?  In your marriage, do you serve?  Not married?  What qualities do you look for in a potential spouse?  Is God in the list of priorities?  Do you look for someone with a heart to serve?  Who do you follow?

Paul Followed

I don't know what you think about when I mention the original Apostles, but one of the words that comes to my mind is "follower."  They were disciples (followers) before they became apostles (sent ones).  When I think about Paul, though, I don't think about him like the other twelve.  He wasn't a follower of Jesus during his lifetime leading up to his ministry.  Paul was a disciple of Gamaliel, a Jewish scholar of their day.  When Paul was knocked off the donkey on the way to Damascus, he was already acting like a leader, not a follower.  Even after his conversion, Paul continued to lead in many ways.  He traveled around from town to town evangelizing people everywhere he went.  He planted new churches, trained leaders, and turned the churches over to those local leaders.  Paul led leaders.  He certainly did not look like a follower.  He looked like a leader.  Yet, this is the way he described himself to the church in Corinth.

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV)

Paul called himself a follower.  His leadership was only as good as his example.  He was leading people to follow Christ in the same way that he followed Christ.  His following was his leadership.  It was his example.  It was the part of him worth imitating.

What I am saying is this: Each of you says, "I'm with Paul," or "I'm with Apollos," or "I'm with Cephas," or "I'm with Christ." Is Christ divided? Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul's name? (1 Corinthians 1:12-13 HCSB)

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to evangelize--not with clever words, so that the cross of Christ will not be emptied of its effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God's power to us who are being saved. (1 Corinthians 1:17-18 HCSB)

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NIV)

How about you?  Do you lead people?  Do you lead by example?  What parts of your life would you want others to to imitate?  Do you boast in yourself and your own accomplishments, or do you boast in the Lord?  Do you lead by following Christ?

Jesus Followed

I often try to picture the ideal life as described by God in His Word. Many times I will use the phrase "walking together with God" because it reminds me of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. We don't try to be "Adam and Eve" like, though, because Adam and Eve didn't perfectly walk together with God. They ate the forbidden fruit. They fell short of the glory of God. They sinned.

Jesus was the only one who perfectly walked together with God in this life. He never sinned. He did not fall short of the Glory of God. He never ate the forbidden fruit. Christ is our example. That is why we talk about being Christlike. Jesus showed us how to live the perfect life here while waiting for the transformation and perfection in the next.

I think we struggle with this idea, though, because Jesus is God. It gets in the way of thinking things can be achievable because Jesus had all the wisdom, power, and authority of God. We don't, we think, so we can't do what He did.

What we can miss, though, is that Jesus didn't use that wisdom, power, or authority to serve himself. He didn't use them to be in control of others, either. Yes, he did choose twelve to teach and prepare for his death, resurrection, and ascension, but that is not the same as telling them he was in charge. In fact, Jesus regularly told his followers that he was not in charge. He constantly told them that he was a follower.

Then Jesus cried out, "Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. "If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." (John 12:44-50 NIV)

I don't know what kind of relationship you have or had with your father, but I do know it probably affects your relationship with God. God is often described by Jesus as "father," bringing up any thoughts, pictures, or memories you have of your father, too. If you had a good father, your picture of God is good. If you had an absent or bad relationship with your father, that carries over into your relationship with God, too. Just know that whenever Jesus referred to God as father, it was a good thing to him. To Jesus, God is the perfect father - good, reliable, fair, loving, providing, protecting, and more. Jesus loved his Father in heaven. This love drove Jesus to follow his Father in heaven. Like I said, Jesus was a follower.

Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:10-13 NIV)

This becomes important to us, because Jesus claimed that his special powers and abilities came from the Father. His relationship with the Father empowered him to do all the miraculous signs and wonders he performed. Not only that, Jesus said we would do the same kinds of miracles (and even greater ones) if we have the same kind of relationship with the Father. We should be followers, too.

So how about you? Do you think about Jesus as a follower? Do you see Christ as your example? Are you a follower, too?