Are We Following Jesus, or Just Believing in Christ
Because, I can believe and not change a thing,
but following could change my whole life.
Jesus never said, "Come, acknowledge my existence."
Or, "Believe in me, I'm the second person of the Trinity."
But 87 times, he said, "Follow Me."
Conscientious people, really thoughtful people, the kind of people you want to have in your church, are often the least ready to become members of the church. Not that that means all who are members have no conscience! Not at all! But usually when confirmands or prospective members are struggling with the decision of whether or not to stand up in church and declare their faith, it is because they dread hypocrisy most of all vices. No one wants to be a fraud.
If becoming a member of the church is about declaring one's own perfection in belief, with complete confidence, then there should be no members of the church at all, except maybe a few dead saints. But I don't think that's what it's about. I don't thing that has ever been the intention of church membership.
Maybe we shouldn't even use the word membership. It was a good word, once. It intended to mean that we are all members of one body, the ways arms and legs are members of our body, but we rarely use the word that way any more. More often we use it as a term of belonging to a social club. A member of the club remains a member in good standing so long as the dues are paid. That's not what we are talking about when we speak of membership in the church. Not at all.
Maybe a better word would be "followship" if there were such a word (but my spellchecker asserts there is not), and we are followers of Jesus. Maybe, we should call each other travelers, because we are signing on for a journey. Not a literal journey. Maybe pilgrim, if we could get the John Wayne accent out of our heads when we said it, "Pilgrim."
Whatever we call it, what we are about is following Jesus, to the best of our ability. We look to the stories of Jesus for guidance. We notice that for Jesus an ethic of compassion overrides an ethic of law, and so we seek to do likewise. We notice that Jesus healed the sick, fed the hungry, forgave sins, and so we seek to do likewise. We notice that Jesus prayed often, in silence, and with others in the congregations (that is what synagogue means, congregation), and so we seek to do likewise. We note that Jesus, even Jesus, learned from others, and so we seek to do likewise.
Like the first followers, we get it wrong once in a while. It isn't easy, this followship, but we are not left to follow all alone. We have this company of followers called the church, and when we walk together we help one another. Sometimes we carry, sometimes we are carried. Sometimes we feed, sometimes we are fed. Sometimes we lose sight of the goal, and others draw our attention back to the one who goes before us, Jesus. Jesus, the pioneer, Jesus the one who completes us.
And that is why we are here. That is the duty and delight of the follower of Jesus. We will walk together in all God's ways, made known and to be made known, by God's gracious Spirit, arm in arm, side by side, hand in hand. Let's walk.
