Why Should Others Follow You?

In the previous article, we discussed "Come Follow Me".  We talked about the motives and mindsets.  We asked ourselves some tough questions.  Hopefully, we found some honest answers.

Today, I think the thought has to be, what made Jesus so confident that He could tell others, "Come follow Me and I will make you fishers of men"?  Lay aside the fact that He was 100% God.  He was all powerful, stepped out of heaven and came to earth to redeem us - the one and only son of the Most High God, born of a virgin - skip all of that.  We also have to remember that He was 100% man!  Tempted like we are, flesh and bone.  Emotions, a will, the ability to make decisions - human.  In light of that perspective - what made Him confident enough to tell these men - not children, not weaklings - men.  Fishermen, in fact.  Strong, rugged, stinky, hard working - men.  What did He know that they didn't?  Why was He so confident that He could look at them, call them out, interrupt them from their routine, approach them even though their father was with them and tell them - "Come, follow Me"?  

Jesus had been through a process.  He had been trained by His mother, told that He was the Messiah.  He knew inside of Himself that He was the King of Kings.  He submitted to every form of authority over Him.  He traveled to the synagogue, He played with the other kids, He learned to follow and obey His parents.  He then submitted to baptism and honored John the Baptist's position as His forerunner.  He followed the Spirit's leading into the wilderness.  He fasted, He prayed, He was tempted - and He stood on the Word.  Jesus had been through some stuff before He ever invited people to follow Him.  He wasn't a novice.

Interestingly enough, Jesus went to Capernaum after He heard that John the Baptist had been put in prison and He decided to make Capernaum His new home base.  Scripture says He began preaching before He ever called his disciples to follow Him.  I believe this is a principle - one that we sometimes get backwards.  Many times we want to assemble a team and then go do something.  However, I believe the way Jesus did it is the best way.  He established Himself by just doing what He knew He was called to do - by Himself.  No assistant, no helper, no person to carry His robe.  He just went about preaching.  He didn't ask for permission.  He didn't seek approval.  He just did it!  Right where He was. 

If we are going to ask people to follow us, we need to have a track record.  We need to be doing what God has called us to do.  We need to be living our life in such a way that it makes it easy for people to follow us because we have already established ourselves as the leader.  Jesus was a great leader because He was a great follower.  He did nothing without the Father's instructions.  It was recognizable in Jesus' life that He was the leader.  He knew where He was going.  He knew His assignment.  He was going whether anyone followed or not.  Process and persistence - He knew who He was and where He had been and where He was going. 

Too many people want others to follow them because they have a "vision" for something great, but they have not been through the process nor do they know how to accomplish the vision - no plan.  They may have charisma, they may have personality - but what about integrity, character, direction, testimony.....Jesus showed us that it takes all of those things in order to be able to be bold enough to say, "Come follow me"!

Process and persistence.  Keys to boldness.  Keys to success.  Keys to leadership.  So, here are the tough questions:  Have you been a good follower, so you can be a good leader?  Have you been through the process or preparation?  Did you pass the tests?  Do you know where you've been and where you're going?  Are you bold enough to tell others that you can be trusted enough to be followed?

I am asking myself these same questions.  When Christ calls us to lead, we are responsible to lead as He did.  We must know who we are following in order for us to have the boldness to have others follow us. Our challenge is to follow Christ as we ask others to follow us.

Come Follow Me

How many times have you followed someone somewhere?  The reasons you followed may vary:  some follow others because they don't know the way, some follow because they don't want to lead, some follow because the leader insists, some follow just for the adventure.  There are many reasons we follow.  Some good and some not so good.  During my reading this week and during my life this week, I keep hearing these words, "Follow me".  Sometimes I was saying them and sometimes I was hearing them.  It made me reflect on their meaning and it made me ask a few questions.  I want to share that with you and see if you may feel the same way.

First of all, many times this week, I heard myself saying, "just follow me" or "I'll drive" or "I know how to get there".  Those are really powerful words that we sometimes take for granted the implication.  To ask someone or a group of people to follow you is a power that not everyone is comfortable with or quite frankly that everyone should have.  As I reflected on these phrases I began to realize that I was asking people to trust my leadership ability.  I was asking them to have confidence in me.  Trust me.  When we look at that in its full context we begin to realize that we are asking people to surrender their will to ours, their way to ours and their desires to ours.  It could be as simple as they would have taken a different route to the destination had they been driving or it could be as life altering as them trusting our interpretation of scripture for their future and destiny (eternity). 

I believe in asking myself tough questions.  I believe that it is only by facing the inward motives of my heart that I can truly walk the life I was designed to live.  So, I want to ask you to consider these questions.  I want you to consider who you are asking to follow you, why you are asking them to follow you, how you are asking them to follow you, where you are asking them to follow you.

Where we want people to follow us and how we want them follow us and most importantly WHY do we want them to follow us are questions that we must ask ourselves daily.  Am I giving people a good reason to follow?  Where am I going that others need to come to?  Is there a reason I want them to follow a certain way?  Why - what makes the place I am going so much better than where they are now?  Am I asking them to follow me for wrong motives?  Am I asking them to follow me because I think it would be good for them?  Too many times, we ask people to follow us - but we don't know why.  We ask them to trust us - but we don't know why. 

Very specifically, Jesus told his first disciples, "Come, follow me".  He knew why.  He knew where.  He knew when.  He knew how.  The first thing Jesus told them was the why - "I will make you fishers of men."  He wanted them to use their gifts and talents and abilities to build the Kingdom of God.  He related to them where they were.  He told them their purpose.  He didn't tell them the how and the where but He did tell them the why and the when - "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men."  Come -  now, leave your familiar setting, follow me - what they would be doing, make you fishers of men - why they needed to leave and follow. 

Today, ask yourself this question - who is following me?  Where am I leading them?  What example am I setting?  Do I know where I'm going?  Can I help them reach their destination?

These questions are applicable to every area of life.  If you are a mom, you are leading your children.  If you are a dad, you are leading your family.  If you have breath in your body - someone is following you.  Where are you leading them?  Realize it is a privilege and an honor to have people follow you.  They are placing their trust and confidence in you.  You were called to have others follow.  Enjoy the trip!