May 4, 2011
What Does Radically Following Jesus Look Like?
This morning I read an article by Skye Jethani in the latest issue of Leadership (I have an article on volunteering in there) that brought up a point related to yesterday’s post about Peter and the way God gives us shoves in unexpected directions.
Skye wrote that radically following Jesus does not necessarily mean committing to sharing the Gospel on the other side of the world or living among the poor. In fact, those acts can become a kind of idol that we serve and pursue, rather than pursuing God first and letting our actions flow out of that radical commitment.
In other words, radically following Jesus begins with a personal commitment to him and then is manifested in our actions. If we seek to follow Jesus by pursuing works of service without first serving our Lord, we’ll miss out on what is most important as well as the empowerment God provides to do ministry.
I know that I’ve often wondered, “How can I follow Jesus radically?”
The sense I get is that we don’t do big things for God all at once.
The Kingdom starts in us as a small desire for God, for his presence in our lives, and we learn to seek him and his Kingdom first. As we learn to listen to God, we begin to train ourselves to tune out other desires. In drawing near to him, we learn what he would like us to do.
Never think that you can’t approach God because you don’t have your act together or because you aren’t serving him enough or any other excuse tied to your actions. You’ll only exhaust and discourage yourself.
God wants to guide his people step by step. The first step is to quiet ourselves before him in worship and in listening prayer. Every leap I’ve ever taken, and I really haven’t taken too many to be honest, was preceded by prayer and listening where God slowly worked on my heart and made his desires my own.
Radically following Jesus may involve incredible acts and radical choices, but it begins with quiet, still moments.
One day you’ll be praying just like Peter and you’ll have a vision of what God wants you to do or an opportunity will come knocking on your door. Though you wouldn’t have known what to do on the day before, you’ll make the right choice because of that time in prayer before God.
