Follow Jesus

Sometimes I hear people ask what the biggest problem is with the Church, I often hear declining numbers cited.  I don’t really care about declining numbers, what I care about is making disciples of Jesus and having more people attend “churches” that don’t preach Jesus is a huge problem. I no longer want to be part of a movement that does not follow Jesus.  Jesus’ words were radical and are still as radical today

  Here are some examples of what I am talking about.

Matthew 6:19 - “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] consume and where thieves break in and steal, 

Storing up personal wealth is not following Jesus.  As Jesus also states “But woe to you who are rich…” - Luke 6:24a

Matthew 5:38-39 -  “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also, 

Wow, fighting back is not following Jesus.

Matthew 5:27-28 - “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

Jimmy Carter got in trouble for being a true Christian for this one. 

Matthew 6:14-15 - “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

We are forgiven only if we forgive others according to Jesus.

Luke 9:23-24 - Then he said to them all, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.

If we want to follow Jesus, we need to be willing to sacrifice our lives.  We are called to be willing to die to further the Good News of Jesus but not to kill for it. We are to take up our crosses and not our weapons.

Mark 9:35 -  He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

We are to work for the benefits of all, it is not a me first or an us first, or an America first but a me/us last. How counter culture is that?

Matthew 28:19-20 - Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

This is what a Christian is about, or should be about.  Getting people to believe in the life and teaching of Jesus to the point that they want to follow.  It will be imperfect, but that is the goal.

Matthew 7:24-27 - Everyone, then, who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”

It is not enough to say you believe in Jesus, we need to follow….

 John 10:1-5 - “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

Do we hear the Shepherd's voice, do we believe in Him enough to follow? Do we believe in His Good News? Do we believe enough to follow through a culture of me/us first? Are we willing to take up our crosses? Are we willing to accept lower membership to have true followers?            

Least we think this is anything new; most of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day didn’t believe and saw him as a threat to be killed. The crusades were a horrible betrayal of the teachings of Jesus. Christians in Germany were more likely to believe in the Nazi movement than others. Scripture was used to support slavery in the US as well as Europe.  At our current worst, we have the prosperity gospel and Christian nationalism….  God forgive them for they know not what they do…..