I was recently cruising along a highway. Traffic was heavy and concentration was needed. As I zipped by, I glanced at an orange construction sign displayed on the side of the road. Just three words. Nothing else. No qualifiers. No sister signs to give context or added info. Three words. “Do Not Follow”. No side roads in sight. No construction vehicles in evidence. Just a lonely sign speaking a mantra.
Now I’m sure that in some past construction setting that the sign made sense. But now as a lonely, small billboard along a busy byway it stood there as a beacon, without elaboration, to thousands of vehicles that passed beside it.
Do Not Follow. Do not follow who? Why? I stopped to ponder this advice for a few minutes. And then I paused to listen to Abba. My conclusion? The sign, in its general form, is really bad advice. In fact, it is not biblical, nor possible.
We are told to follow. As a matter of fact, we are all followers, whether we wish to be or not. You and I cannot help but be followers. We are never, not even once, at the pinnacle of some life pathway where there is absolutely no one in front of us that we must follow. The question is not “Should I be a follower?” The question is, “Am I choosing wisely whom I will follow?”
So, whom should we follow? Well, Jesus certainly. It goes without saying but we pause to say it anyway because of its absolute importance and priority. Yet no matter how much we try to spiritualize the issue; followership doesn’t stop there. There are some people that we have no choice but to follow (and they may not even be worthy of following – yet we have no say in the matter). Maybe they came before us in the timeline. We follow family members of previous generations. Maybe they are in front of us in relation to role. We follow, in some manner, those in positions of authority and influence who are, in this sense, above us or ahead of us. In such cases the question is “What aspects of their lives should I emulate and what should I jettison?”
The real question is “When you have a choice in followership, what kind of person do you choose to set out after?” Do you follow people who will make you better, who will lead you further, who will impact you wisely and deeply, who will stretch you necessarily, who will be used of Abba to mold you magnificently? The question is not “Should I follow?” but “Whom have I chosen to follow?”
But the issue of the sign along the highway doesn’t end there. Just like you and I cannot help but be followers, we also cannot help but have followers. No one gets to say, “I’m not a follower” but equally true no one gets to say, “I don’t influence anyone.” People are inevitably being influenced by you; yes, they are, in one way or another, following you. The key question here is “What kind of followers will you create?” Be assured: you are creating, you are influencing, you are impacting. What will be the outcome in the lives you are influencing?
The apostle Paul said, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” (I Corinthians 11:1) I don’t know about you but following Paul’s example at this point seems like a heavy weight to bear. It is a lot of pressure. It is an assignment but requires Abba’s power, Jesus’ intercession, and the Spirit’s guidance. But you and I are not allowed to set up a “Do not follow” sign along the path of our lives. Followership will happen.
I make no claim to even be remotely worthy of being followed (you can learn a lot from my example about how NOT to do things). Yet I do say, with humble boldness and some trembling under the weight of responsibility, “Please follow me; as I (with some stumbling) follow Christ.”
Follow me to be a group of leaders who Depend upon the Holy Spirit, Disciple Jesus-followers, Develop godly leaders, Deploy people on mission to reach a lost world, and Do it Together in collaboration with others in the family of God as we seek to glorify the King and advance His Kingdom.
Set up signs that say, “Follow”.
Jeff Miller