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.
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