“Whoever desires to follow Me must deny themselves . . . “  Jesus of Nazareth

“Come, follow me, and leave the world to it’s babblings.”  Dante

What do Renaldo, Selena Gomez, and Mr. Beast have in common?  Evidently, they are the top three influencers on social media. (Surprisingly, Taylor Swift is #8, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson one place in front of her.)

Why are these celebrity figures so popular?  Why are so many people “following” them?  I suspect it’s because people are lost and looking for direction in their lives. But more than that, I believe people are searching for themselves . . .  and God.

Into this confused cacophony of the world’s babblings, as Dante says, is the quiet voice of Christ, gently and lovingly inviting us to follow Him.

To do so one must first recognize that we are lost.  At some point in our life we must come to a place where we are directionless; a place that we don’t recognize; a place that is so foreign that we have no clue as to how to find our way out.  Have you been in that place?  When?  And where was it? 

I remember when I first began hunting with my father in the big woods of Northern Wisconsin.  It was back in the day when the forest could go for miles, stretching out into an all-engulfing wilderness.  One of the first lessons that Dad taught after basic gun safety was what to do if I got lost.  “Sit down and stay put and I will find you.”

Good life advice as we transverse the spiritual wilderness in which we often lose our way.  Our gracious God is constantly seeking us and knows how and where to find us.  God calls to us repeatedly and in a variety of ways.  The question is: Are we listening?

It is incredibly difficult to do so when there are SO MANY competing voices, so much noise, and so much social pressure to follow anyone and everyone other than The One.

That really isn’t new, is it?  At the time of Jesus there were various religious sects within Judaism that a person could choose from.  There was a great deal of pressure to conform to the government, to worship Caesar.  St. Paul recognizes the propensity to place mere mortals on pedestals when he addresses the congregation of people in Corinth, some of whom were following him, some Apollos, and some Peter.  Paul repeatedly directs them—and us—to Christ. It is not only in culture, but in religion, that we find the practice of sectarianism alive and well.  At the time of The Reformation most followed the Pope, some followed Luther, others Zwingli, still others Calvin. 

The quiet voice of The Lamb invites us to hear His voice and follow Him.  To deny ourselves, our desires to be part of the crowd, and to renounce our obsession with the so-called “influencers” and follow Him.  The irony is that it is only by denying ourselves that we will find ourselves, our true selves.

When Jesus called the first fisherman to follow Him, they dropped their nets and left their lives as they had known them behind.  That is very symbolic; their nets represents all that we carry and cling to that we gives us imagined safety and security.  The call to follow The Way necessitates a dropping of whatever it is we have placed in our nets that is not only hindering our journey with Jesus but preventing us from following where He is leading.  What’s in your net that needs dropping? 

What does it mean to follow The Way of Christ?  The Way of the Cross?  We’ll explore that further in weeks to come.