“the next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Come, follow me’.” John 1: 43
In Miraculous Movements, Jerry Toursdale cites a story where a young muslim man hears the story of Jesus on the radio in a remote town in Africa. The man was so transformed by the message, that he went and told everyone he could about it in the town; he had nothing to add, as he didn’t have a Bible and couldn’t read, but eventually he found another old woman who told him she was a Christian. ‘Now we are two’ she told him. Without any literature between them, and the only knowledge of Jesus coming from what they had heard from others, they began to draw the town to Jesus. They simply told others of Jesus from the stories they knew and from this an entire movement grew.
Sally and I meet dozens – literally, of people who have sat in church all of their life and yet have no knowledge of a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. They have no assurance. It alarms us – what has happened?
Somewhere along the line, we substituted ‘following Jesus‘ with learning more about him. There is no doubt we are to learn about Jesus, principally through reading his Word and being ministered to by the Holy Spirit. Discovery Bible Studies, where small groups of believers gather to discuss the Word of God are an ideal way to learn. Jesus taught his disciples, and Paul taught his newly formed churches in a similar fashion, and expected others to do the same. The problems come, when we stop following Jesus, and our faith becomes an academic exercise.
Jesus principally calls us to follow him; there isn’t a single reference in the Gospels to Jesus ever calling us to worship him, but on numerous occasions, he calls everyone who would be a believer to be obedient to his calling. A large part of that calling is to share his Love for mankind into our local community, and to make disciples in the process. Such a calling to follow Jesus is hard work, and herein lies the crux. It is far easier to define our faith by ‘attending church, Bible Study or weekly meetings’ than the far more esoteric call which demands, ‘follow me’. But obedience to this calling is central to Christendom.
There is a trend in the world, that is hidden in plain sight for all to see; where believers, often at great cost, take up the call of Jesus to follow him, and go into the world and make disciples, the church moves at great pace. God works, miraculous signs and wonders occur, and the hardest hearted of men, receives a heart of flesh from God. For example, Nepal is now the fastest growing Christian nation in the world, and small, organic church is the fastest growing religion in the world. God is very much still on the move, far ahead of us.
But, where we as believers decide to ignore Christ’s calling, and instead take the much easier route of teaching ourselves more and more about God, without ever really knowing him, the church stagnates. As we fail to obey, so God stops moving, and our growth depends on our own strength. Over time, as we see now in many places, our faith becomes a religion and our religion begins to gain political overtones. Finally, the coup de grace happens, when, in order to keep the doors open, we agree to say only what those in power would have us say, and we exchange the truth of God for a lie.
So where lies the West today? Many have mulled this over many times before the Lord. The answer, strangely enough, would seem to lie with us, the believers. Throughout history, God waits for his people to move out in faith, before he responds. But, oh what happens when he does. It would seem now that God is waiting again for us to begin to follow his Son in obedience, and to proclaim the truth about a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. There is resistance, largely from the established church – but many people in the West are beginning to take Jesus at his word, and to follow him as Philip and the disciples did when Jesus first showed up. A movement is happening again. At the core of it, people are knowing Jesus, rather than just learning about him
But, friends, here is the question, why would you want to live any other way? Our Saviour is calling us, each of us – “come, follow me”. Can you not hear those words, ‘well done good and faithful servant, come into my rest’ as we join the heavenly family for eternity. (Col. 3:1-4)
Would you have it any other way, than Jesus as Lord?
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