Following Christ: Some people can speak easily about “following Christ.” And in one sense, the confession is right, there is no other object, no other name, no other path. Christ is all. Yet when I say it, I cannot do so without hesitation. I’ve fallen too many times, failed too often, and I know myself too well to speak confidently of following Christ as though it were the path I am now on. “Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?” Proverbs 20:24.
Much of the time, I’m not sure I’m following Christ at all. I fear I’m often just following my own assumptions, my preferred ideas, or a handful of bible truths I keep close at hand, sometimes for comfort, (and one can only hope, in a small measure, to be a helper of joy, II Corinthians 1:24,) and sometimes to show how clever I am, or how well I know the Scriptures. I Corinthians 8:1. As our hearts are exposed, with all the deceit, blindness, and emptiness that surface there, it can be hard even to stand, let alone speak with confidence about much of anything, much less make claims about following Christ. Jeremiah 17:9.
When the Lord reveals what is truly there, I see how little clarity I have, how little love I possess, how little mercy resides in me, &c., the account is endless. My sins are more than I can number, rising above me like a burden too great to bear. “For innumerable evils have compassed me about, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head, therefore my heart faileth me.” Psalm 40:12. I’ve fallen short too many times to speak as though following Christ were something I possess or control. That’s where the language begins to break down.
Following Christ? It’s not as simple as we can sometimes make it sound. Mercy alone sustains every step. Lamentations 3:22-23. We soon discover that following the Lord is not something we initiate or maintain, but something that takes place only as the Father draws us to Christ, and we are taught of God. John 6:44-45. Apart from divine revelation, apart from “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” II Corinthians 4:6, we drift, drawn from opinion to opinion, path to path, hope to hope. We hope we belong to Christ, hope Christ died for us, hope we are not mistaken. Yet even when the gospel is confessed and believed, none of it stands on its own. Everything converges here, and here alone, the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Isaiah 45:22.
Additionally, I’ve always found it a bit concerning when someone opens a message by saying, “I have a word from God for you.” Well, anybody can say that, particularly those who feel assured that they speak in the name of the Lord. Conviction alone can sound very spiritual, even when it’s little more than confidence in one’s own thoughts. Jeremiah 23:16. Years ago, we had a religious neighbor whom I overheard telling my wife how God had told her to do this and told her to do that. I remember remarking that if you listen very carefully, the voice you think is the Lord’s may begin to sound a lot like your own. Luke 11:35. Her husband was the pastor of a large congregation. They were a nice “church” family, but needless to say, they never spoke to us about the things of Christ. We simply didn’t share the same language. Nehemiah 13:24.
That experience helped me recognize something I didn’t fully understand at the time but would later see more clearly in doctrinal disputes. I remember one doctrinal controversy where a brother replied by asking, “are you saying I’m not taught of God?” At the time, it struck me as an astonishingly bold, and frankly an obnoxious remark; and yet, with time, I’ve come to see how often we harbor that same assumption in our hearts, somehow convinced that our understanding must surely be inspired, or that our following of Christ is somehow more certain than it truly is. “And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.” I Corinthians 8:2.
Think about this as well, if anyone could claim to be following Him, surely it was the disciples. Christ Himself told them to follow Him, and they did, walking alongside Him during His earthly ministry. But even then, their understanding was often confused, their confidence misplaced. One of the most outspoken among them was told, “get thee behind me, Satan,” not because he had abandoned Christ, but because he thought he understood the way when he did not. Matthew 16:23. And then there is Saul, who was utterly persuaded that he was serving God, following Him faithfully, while hunting down God’s own children. Acts 9:1. It’s a frightening reminder that light must be given, or we are capable of terrible blindness.
And if we’re honest, these aren’t merely historical warnings; they are mirrors. What we see in them is not something foreign to us, but something far closer to home. “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition.” I Corinthians 10:11. The blind man healed by Christ isn’t just a story to admire, it’s a picture of all of us. We are blind, and completely dependent upon His mercy to see anything at all. And when He gives sight, it doesn’t lead us in circles or send us in a tailspin; it always leads us back to Him. No wonder He called Himself “the Light of the world.” John 8:12. Thankfully, our hope does not rest in our ability to articulate our way in following Christ, but in the Lord’s sure mercy to gather us to Himself. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28. MPJ