Jesus said, “Follow Me.” – (Matthew
4.18-19; John 21.18-22)
When you're a kid,
you're what an old friend of mine referred to as “wet cement”. Impressions, well, when you’re a youngster they get
written on you so easily and so deeply. And then that kid grows older and becomes
an adult, and those impressions are hardened into beliefs, or, in many cases, disbeliefs
or “un-beliefs.”
Apparently, the late Steve
Jobs was no exception – Apple's communications genius and revolutionary has
been described as "intriguing, yet
inscrutable"[i]
But as he battled cancer, he opened some windows into his mind and soul to the
author who was writing his life story. According to the recent biography that
bears his name, Steve Jobs studied Zen Buddhism for years. And he was a
self-identified Buddhist (Fortune described him as a “Buddhist and a vegetarian”[ii]).
Well, that was not always the case. An article in USA Today said, "He never went back to church after he
saw a photo of starving children on the cover of Life and asked his Sunday
school pastor if God knew what would happen to them. He was 13 at the
time."[iii]
Now, in a separate
article, USA Today included this near-the-end spiritual observation from Steve
Jobs' biography: “The juice goes out of
Christianity when it becomes too based on faith rather than on living like
Jesus or seeing the world as Jesus saw it. I think different religions are different doors to the same house.
Sometimes, I think the house exists, and sometimes, I don't. It's the great
mystery."[iv]
None of us knows
exactly where Steve Jobs finally landed in his spiritual journey. We do know
that there are not many ways with different doors to the same house but, in
fact, that Jesus is the only way to God, eternal life and heaven (John 14.1-6;
Acts 4.11-12; Hebrews 9.11-15, 10.19-23; 1 Timothy 2.5-6; et al.) But in Jobs’ own words about Jesus there's a faint
glimmer of the bedrock truth that answers so many spiritual questions: it's really,
simply, only all about Jesus.
Christianity, the
religion, has never been the issue, although many have been unable or unwilling
to separate Jesus from the religion that's all about Him. But Jesus made it all
about Him, and Him alone, in that simple two-word invitation found in our key
Scripture text that He extended over and over again, "Follow Me" – (cf., Matthew 4.19; 8.22; 9.9; 10.38;
16.24; 19.21; Mark 1.17; 2.14; 8.34; 10.21; Luke 5.27; 9.23; 9.59; 14.27;
18.22; John 1.43; 10.27; 12.26; 21.19, 22).
As a matter of
priority, Jesus never said to first, "Follow
My religion" or "Follow My
followers." He didn't say, "Follow
My rules." He didn't say, "Follow
My leaders." You see, Christianity, in a nutshell, first and foremost,
begins and ends with these two words of Jesus – “Follow Me!” As a friend of mine says, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing!” Jesus,
and Jesus alone, is the main thing – as the writer of Hebrews puts it — He’s the
author, founder, initiator, source, leader, perfecter, completer, finisher, and
goal of our faith – (Hebrews 12.2). He is the Alpha and the Omega – the
beginning and the end – (Revelation 1.8; 21.6; 22.13). He’s the chief
cornerstone upon which Christ-followers build their lives and the foundation of
Christianity rests (Psalm 118.22; Isaiah 28.16; Zechariah 10.4; Ephesians
2.19-21; 1 Peter 2.4-8). And so the only reason to turn away from Jesus is if
you've got a problem with Jesus Himself.
As for "seeing the world as Jesus saw
it," Jesus saw it broken because people – particularly religious
people – walk past the wounded, all absorbed with themselves and their religion,
as in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10.25-37). He saw the world as
cold, and lonely, and twisted, because every man has chosen to ignore the
Manufacturer's instructions and we become our own god for our own life. And
that has brought us a world of broken and bleeding families, greedy hoarding
that produces global hunger, and an endless drama of people being used, abused,
walked on, discarded and disposed of. He looked on the crowds and had
compassion because He saw that they were like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew
9.36; Mark 6.34).
Then what of all
those starving children? Jesus said when we reach for them to help them, "whatever you did for one of the least
of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me." Jesus tells us that, "whatever you did not do for one of the
least of these, you did not do for Me" – (Matthew 25.40) Jesus is so
personally identified with the hurting people of our world that He takes our
treatment of them as our treatment of Him, with eternal consequences.
This Jesus that Christianity
is all about, came here, in the Bible's words, as "a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering...pierced for our
transgressions...crushed for our iniquities" – (Isaiah 53.3, 5). This
is the God who leaves the throne to die on the cross (Philippians 2.5-8). He's
a God you can believe in. He's a God who stands alone above all the wannabe
gods of earth's spiritual pantheon. And ultimately, we find in Jesus the only
man of the billions who've lived who has come back from the grave and who
promised eternal life to all those who would obey His invitation to “Follow Me."
And the question is, “On this side of eternity, while you still
can decide, have you ever listened to this Jesus and turned your will and your life
over to Him as Lord and Savior?” Can you imagine Him calling your name today
as He says, “Follow Me”? He died for
you. He's risen from the dead to prove that He can give you eternal life. Now
He waits for you to reach out and say, "Jesus,
I will follow You, I’m all Yours’… I’m all in – from here to eternity!”
Behind all the fog of
all those “sophisticated” spiritualities
and the dueling religions of our world stands one real God, one real Savior. He's
the God who hung on a cross and He’s the living God Who’s calling you today,
cutting through all the commotion, chaos, confusion, and counterfeit messiahs with
just two simple, totally life changing words – “Follow Me.” He’s got so much in store for you that He wants to
share with you if you are willing to follow after Him.
I'd love to help you
begin that relationship with Him – would you send me an email, call me, tweet
me, text me, connect with me on my blog – today? Life’s too short and eternity
is forever – so please don’t wait another day… don’t waste another minute.
Jesus says, “I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No
one can come to the Father except through Me.” – (John 14.6, NLT)
The apostle Paul wrote, “Pattern yourselves after me [follow my example], as I imitate and follow Christ (the Messiah).” – (1
Corinthians 11.1, AMP) It’s all about Jesus and following Him. I pray you will
decide now to follow Jesus!
In a nutshell – in two words – in Him,
Web Shepherd
