Followers?

We get emails and social media requests all the time. Follow me on Pinterest, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Bloglovin, and all the rest. Follow me. I get it. I really do. After all, on this blog, you can choose to follow "In the Way" on several different media (red, on the right).

Recently, I’ve been reading through social media feed and seeing how some of my friends follow different kinds of input: political sources, preachers, causes, health advice, etc. Of course, everything is out there, and it’s so easy to click “like.” I looked up one of these sources. What does this preacher actually believe? What is he exactly? And, I was thinking, how many of us blindly follow? I don’t mean total blindness, you understand. I just mean we follow because our friend liked this person, and the video we watched or the blog we read made sense that first time. I’ve done it. Haven’t you?

The Bible is crystal clear about following God. Let’s just look at a few of the verses on this topic.

• Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him (Deuteronomy 13:4).
• Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:24).
• My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27).
• If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour (John 12:26).
• But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness (1 Timothy 6:11).
• Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation (Hebrews 13:7).
• Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God (3 John 1:11).

Following people—besides Jesus, of course—should always be limited. Every human being fails. Every person sometimes gives bad advice or makes a wrong judgment. So, the Lord gave us guidance about this in His Word.

The Apostle Paul was a great man. He had been educated in the best schools. He had a solid background in the Law of the Old Testament. He was religiously zealous in the extreme. When he met Jesus, his life was radically changed. He spent three years in the desert being taught by Jesus Himself. When he began his ministry, he was ready. He preached everywhere and suffered persecution. He was an effective missionary, starting churches all over Greece and Turkey. He went to Rome with the message of the gospel. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write most of the New Testament. Yet, Paul taught limits about how his followers should follow him: Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).

When Paul preached, he urged his hearers to go home and compare his preaching with the Scriptures. Paul preached in the city of Berea. The Bible says about the people, These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so (Acts 17:11). They were eager listeners but not blind followers. What they heard compelled them to open their Old Testament Scriptures. God commends them for checking out Paul’s preaching.

Godly discernment doesn’t come easily. Usually, one has to read the Bible many times before he can make connections and judge clearly whether a concept is biblically sound or not. Some preachers and teachers sound good, but when you analyze what they’ve written and the things they’ve said, you might find they are teaching falsehoods and aren’t someone you want to follow. I can think of several women teachers who have said shocking statements over the years. (I had bought a whole set of Kindle books by one of them. When I found out she wasn’t sound doctrinally, I got rid of them.) We have to be careful! We have to know the Bible ourselves. We need to be discerning. When we find out that a teacher isn’t biblical, we need to side with the Scriptures. That’s what the Bereans did, and that’s what we need to do today.

Follow me?

Rather, follow Christ and the Bible. You’ll never go wrong with them!