How to Almost Follow Jesus
by Marshall Segal
The more following Jesus falls out of fashion in
America, the more
we’ll experience what it really means to follow
him.
As the risks rise for us, the once large crowds
may disperse, but
genuine, joy-filled faith will rise. Those who
followed Jesus for
the wrong reasons will inevitably fall away, not
willing to bear any
cross heavier than the one around their neck.
But those who were
willing to lose everything to gain him, who
rejoice at the
opportunity to suffer for his name, will
experience deeper, fuller
intimacy with him than ever before (Philippians
3:8–10).
If we almost follow Jesus, tagging along with
Christians as long as
it’s socially acceptable and psychologically
comfortable, we’ll come
to the end of the benefits of Christianity. If
we truly follow him —
desiring him above all else, embracing trials
and opposition for his
sake, and leaving whatever necessary behind — we
won’t need to chase
comfort, attention, or happiness here.
If you want to almost follow Jesus, here are
three ways from Matthew
8.
1. Follow (without) your heart.
When Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount, the
crowds were amazed
and chased after him. Matthew writes, “When he
came down from the
mountain, great crowds followed him” (Matthew
8:1). They were in awe
of his authority (Matthew 7:29) — his boldness,
his insight, his
miracles — but not ready to submit to his
authority.
As the crowds chased Jesus, he went to
Capernaum, where he met a
Roman centurion (of all people) who pleaded with
him to heal his
paralyzed servant. Jesus agrees, but the man
replies, “Lord, I am
not worthy to have you come under my roof, but
only say the word,
and my servant will be healed” (Matthew 8:8). He
explains,
“For I too am a man under authority, with
soldiers under me. And I
say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another,
‘Come,’ and he comes,
and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
(Matthew 8:9)
Like the crowds, he recognizes Jesus’s
authority, but unlike the
crowds, he seems to understand it. He bows to
it. He’s not chasing a
show; he cancels the show. Don’t come. Just say
the word. Your
command carries all the power necessary.
“When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to
those who followed
him, ‘Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel
have I found such
faith’” (Matthew 8:10). Don’t miss who he was
speaking to: “those
who followed him.” He’s teaching “followers”
what it really means to
follow, and he’s pointing to their enemy, a
Roman officer. True
followers do not chase me for my miracles, but
follow me because I
am worthy of their faith and devotion — of their
life.
2. Fall away when following gets hard.
That evening, Jesus healed many more who were
sick or under demonic
attack, and so the crowds flocked again. But
instead of receiving
them, Jesus “gave orders to go over to the other
side” (Matthew
8:18) — to flee the crowd, that kind of crowd.
And a scribe came up
and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you
wherever you go”
(Matthew 8:19). Jesus responded, “Foxes have
holes, and birds of the
air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere
to lay his head”
(Matthew 8:20).
No room in the inn, no room in the caves, no
room even in the nests.
You follow me for miracles, for fame, for power
and comfort, but I
will be despised and rejected by men, as one
from whom men hide
their faces (Isaiah 53:3). To follow Christ is
not to share in fame,
power, or comfort (at least not yet), but first
to share in
sacrifice, suffering, and hostility.
Jesus says a couple chapters later, “Whoever
does not take his cross
and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew
10:38). I bore the cross
of God’s wrath so that you didn’t have to — but
anyone who follows
me will bear a cross. True followers do not
chase me for earthly
comfort or reputation, but embrace the suffering
and rejection of
being united to a crucified Savior.
3. Hear, “Follow me,” and drag your feet.
Another disciple spoke up, “Lord, let me first
go and bury my
father” (Matthew 8:21). I will follow you, but I
have some other
important things to take care of first. Jesus
said to him, “Follow
me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead”
(Matthew 8:22).
Really? Anyone with a father can sympathize with
the heartbroken
son. Was Jesus being insensitive? Did he over-
speak?
He was not insensitive about the son’s loss, and
he’s not
insensitive about the pain or loss in your life.
And he did not
over-speak. In fact, he says essentially the
same thing several
chapters later, but with greater clarity,
“Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the
Son of Man will sit
on his glorious throne, you who have followed me
will also sit on
twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. And everyone
who has left houses or brothers or sisters or
father or mother or
children or lands, for my name’s sake, will
receive a hundredfold
and will inherit eternal life. But many who are
first will be last,
and the last first.” (Matthew 19:28–30)
Following Jesus always means leaving something.
You can’t continue
to be all you were, and simply add him into your
routine. But
whatever you’re asked to leave behind — even the
most precious
relationships — will pale next to all that you
receive, now and on
your thrones forever. True followers do not fit
Jesus in and around
their other relationships and priorities, but
make him their first
love and highest priority — and the lens through
which they see and
enjoy all else.
Are You Following or Chasing?
If we are truly following Jesus, we are not
chasing miracles and
spectacles like the crowds, but bowing our knees
in reverent awe
like the Roman centurion. We are not avoiding
the costs of following
Jesus at all costs, but rejoicing to be
rejected, opposed, and
afflicted with him. We are not clinging to the
loves we had before
we met him, but submitting every other love to
our first and
greatest love.
How do you almost follow Jesus? These three
brief scenes in Matthew
8 paint a vivid and sobering picture.
Immediately after Jesus says,
“Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own
dead,” Matthew
writes, “And when he got into the boat, his
disciples followed him”
(Matthew 8:23). He warned them, and they
followed — or did they?
They rallied to his hard words here in this
chapter, which is
encouraging, and stepped into the boat with him.
But there were
plenty of discouraging moments, too. Two verses
later, Jesus says to
them in the storm, “Why are you afraid, O you of
little faith?”
(Matthew 8:26).
True followers are made in a moment, but proven
over a lifetime. We
are matured, emboldened, and tested for as long
as we live. If you
genuinely treasure Jesus, God’s still working in
your following.
With his help, we will go wherever he calls
whenever he calls,
knowing that he knows best, and that anything we
lose or leave
behind will be repaid a hundredfold and more.
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