What Does It Mean to Truly Follow Christ?

In the Gospels Jesus’ command to "follow me" appears repeatedly (Mt. 8:22; Mt. 9:9; Mk. 2:14; Lk. 5:27; Jn. 1:43). In many cases, Jesus was calling the twelve men who would become His disciples (Mt. 10:2-4). These Twelve were specifically sent forth (“apostle” means “one sent forth to represent an official”) by Jesus and given His authority to cast out demons and heal every kind of disease and sickness. The 12 Apostles were here named in pairs and probably were sent out in that fashion (“He sent them out two by two” [Mark 6:7])

But other times, He was speaking to anyone who wanted what He had to offer (Mk 8:34) and this is our theme tonight, “What does it mean to Follow Christ?”

To be a leader you need followers – what does it mean to be a ‘follower?’ How are we to follow Jesus?

Jesus stated clearly what it means to follow Him. (Mt. 10:34-39) Jesus’ bringing a “sword” and turning family members against each other can seem a little harsh after words like "whosoever believes on Him shall not perish" (Jn. 3:16). But Jesus never softened the truth, and the truth is that following Him leads to difficult choices. To those who are ‘weak,’ turning back may seem very appealing.

When Jesus’ teaching went from the “Blessed are…” in the Beatitudes (Mt. 5:3-11) to the coming cross, many who had followed him turned away (Jn. 6:66). Even the disciples decided that following Jesus was too difficult the night He was arrested. Every one of them deserted Him because following Christ meant possible arrest and execution. Rather than risk his own life, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus three times. So, how do we follow Christ? To truly follow Christ means He has become everything to us. Everyone follows something: friends, popular culture, family, selfish desires, or God. We can only follow one thing at a time (Mt. 6:24). You cannot serve two masters. God states we are to have no other gods before Him. (Ex. 20:3; Deut. 5:7; Mk. 12:30).

To truly follow Christ means we do not follow anything else. Jesus said in Lk. 9:23, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." There is no such thing as a "halfway disciple." As the disciples demonstrated, no one can follow Christ by the strength of his own willpower. The Pharisees were good examples of those who were trying to obey God in their own strength. Their self-effort led only to arrogance and distortion of the whole purpose of God’s Law (Lk. 11:39; Mt. 23:24).

1. Jesus gave His disciples the secret to faithfully following Him, but they did not recognize it at the time. He said, "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing" (Jn. 6:63). And "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them” (Jn. 6:65). The disciples had walked with Jesus for three years, learning, observing, and participating in His miracles. Yet even they could not follow Him faithfully in their own strength. They needed a Helper.

2. Jesus promised many times that, once He had ascended to the Father, He would send a "Helper" to them—the Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:26; 15:26-27). In fact, He told them that it was for their good that He was going away so that the Holy Spirit could come. (Jn. 16:7) The Holy Spirit indwells in the heart of every believer. Gal. 2:20; Rom. 8:16; Heb. 13:5; Mt. 28:20)

Jesus warned His followers that they were not to begin testifying of Him "until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Lk. 24:49; Acts 1:4). When the Holy Spirit came upon those first believers at Pentecost, they suddenly had all the power they needed to follow Christ, even to the death, if needed (Acts 2:1–4; 4:31).

Following Jesus means striving to be like Him.

He always obeyed His Father, so that’s what we strive to do. (Jn. 8:29; 15:10).

Every decision and dream should be filtered through His Word with the goal of glorifying Him in everything. We are not saved by the things we do for Christ but by what He has done for us. Because of His grace, we want to please Him in everything. All this is accomplished as we allow the Holy Spirit to have complete control of every area of our lives. He explains the Scriptures, empowers us with spiritual gifts, comforts us, and guides us; He encourages us, helps us to persevere, and reminds us of our adoption into the family of God. The Christian life is never easy, but the difficulties do not negate the joy as we consider Jesus, who “for the joy set before Him…” endured the cross, scorning its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. What is the joy set before you?

To truly follow Christ means . . .

we apply the truths we learn from His Word and live as if Jesus walks beside us in person.

we walk in the light in this world by following His precepts, living in His power and growing in His grace.

we make Him the Boss. That’s what it means to make Jesus Lord of our lives. (1 Cor. 12:3; 4:5)