Following with Followers-The Art of Following Together

The Grace of Together; “and I will make you...” Mark 1:16-20; 1 Corinthians 4:16-17

Mark 1:16–20 (ESV)

16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

1 Cor. 4:16-17 I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.

Relationships- Follow Jesus, Together. We are students in a living thread of learning and being.

He, Jesus, called them-they left their father, the boats and nets and business, and servants and followed Jesus. They left together, yet as individuals.

In 1 Cor. Paul sends Timothy to a group. Literally, you all, to remind them of “my (Paul’s) way in Christ.”

Hammett, Edward H., Paul L. Anderson, and Cornell Thomas. Reaching People under 30 While Keeping People over 60: Creating Community across Generations. First Edition. Danvers, MA: TCP, 2015.

“The cultural reality in America today is that people don’t form relationships; they don’t join organizations just to identify with a group; they say they are spiritual and that they pray but they don’t necessarily go to church; and they have individual preferences that in some areas of life, such as eating, are pretty easy to satisfy. In this mix, the church is trying not only to survive but also to thrive, to draw into the body of Christ all the people Jesus died to save”.

Together is cooperating with God’s Spirit in a mutual relationship. (Cadre Ministries)

This may be the most challenging aspect of the art of following Jesus. The following together isn’t merely getting in line and playing “follow the leader”, it is getting into a mixture of people and following one another as we follow the Leader.

As we read the gospels we see the humanness of the disciples come to the surface. Here are a few.

Grumbling among themselves over who forgot to bring the leftovers. (Mat. 16.5ff)

Who is the greatest- Luke 22.24 A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.

Alliances form for power- to sit on the right and left hand of Jesus. Mother wants a favor of privilege for her sons. (Mt. 20.21; And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”

Selfishness of personal desires (Judas 13)

Later in the book of Acts-

feelings of not being cared for..(deacons)

legalism of how much Law is enough law?

Can this guy be trusted? (joining of Saul/Paul)

Doctrine and teachings… to circumcise or not…?

Mutual Relationships: one another/one another with Christ

(Church is synonomous with disciples).The church is always addressed as “you all” as a singular unit. There are many reasons stated for the purpose of the togetherness of the church. As Jesus is the mutual connection of all Disciples, all disciples are equal. Yet each disciple will have his/her own expectations as a disciple placed upon them.

The one-anothers cannot be fulfilled with out the togetherness of the disciples. The 2nd of the greatest commands, “love one another, Love your neighbor, cannot be fulfilled”.

As we share the Mutual Relationships, we encourage & empower each other.

The power of example feeds mutual relationships.

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. — Philippians 3:17

Paul told Timothy, “set an example for the believers in speech, conduct etc.

ESV. (1 Tim. 4.11ff) 11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The Power of a Good Example A New Beginning Greg Laurie

There was a man who had been out of work for a long time and decided to inquire at the local zoo. He told the zookeeper, “I would like a job. I will clean cages. I will do whatever you need.” The zookeeper said, “I’m sorry. We would love to hire you, but there just aren’t any openings right now.” Noticing how big and burly the man was, the zookeeper suddenly had an idea. He said, “This is crazy, and you don’t have to agree to it, but would you be willing to put on a costume and pretend to be a gorilla? Our gorilla died last week. He was our most popular exhibit. If you will be the gorilla, we will have a suit custom-made for you. We’ll pay you really well.” Desperate for work, the man took the job. Feeling a little apprehensive on his first day, he put on the gorilla suit and climbed into the cage. He made a few gorilla moves and beat his chest a little. The people loved it. The next day, he tried shaking the bars, screaming, and running around. The crowds started growing. By the third day, he was really enjoying his job and began swinging on the vines. But he swung too far, went over the wall, and landed in the middle of the lion’s cage. The lion turned and walked toward him rather quickly. The man knew that if he called for help, people would discover he wasn’t really a gorilla. But if he kept quiet, he would be the lion’s lunch. So he screamed, “Help!” “Shut up, stupid!” the lion whispered back. “You’ll get us both fired!” There are a lot of people like this in the church today. They are putting on a show. They are pretending to be something they are really not. You may be a good representative of Jesus Christ, or you may be a bad one. Either way, you are His representative. Some people, (many in the church, but not all) may never open the Bible and read John 3:16. They may never look to see what the Scriptures say to them. But they will watch you. They will take note of the way you live, the way you treat your family, how you do your job, and the way you function as a follower of Jesus Christ. And they will make their evaluation about God accordingly. Philippians 2 presents a powerful portion of Scripture that shows us how important a good example really is: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (verses 12–13 nkjv) There was a special bond between Paul and the believers in Philippi. They were in great agony over the fact that Paul was in prison and could not be with them. So Paul was saying, “I don’t want you to lower your guard spiritually, even if I am not around. I don’t want you go into some kind of a spiritual cruise control and not continue to move forward.” This doesn’t say to work for your own salvation. It says to work out your own salvation. This phrase, “work out,” means “to carry it to the goal and fully complete it.” In the original language, the phrase also could be translated to mean working a mine, as in mining for gold. God wants us to carry on to the goal and fully complete our own salvation.

In recognition of what God has done for us, we have to realize that He has placed the mother lode of His grace and forgiveness in our lives. We need to mine it. We need to discover it. We need to appropriate it. We need to carry it to the goal. That may seem like a tall order. It is. But let’s not forget verse 13: “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Remember, the calling of God is the enabling of God. If God asks you to do something, then He will give you the power to do it.

One of these graces is the Grace of Together.

Where are your ‘togetherness graces’ being imprinted into others? Have you drifted into isolation? Are you in a study group, class, prayer meeting, a ministry team?

Edward Hammett says, “Every thriving church I know of has leaders who are committed to being present, prepared, and making disciples. Every plateaued, dying church I know avoids these standards”.

• Be engaged in spiritual life disciplines. Prayer, fasting, a personal ministry, having a strong personal witness, and Bible study are essential lifelines for leaders. Leaders should be asked regularly to share what God is doing in these dimensions of their life.

• Be accountable to other capable, trusted, and mature spiritual leaders for carrying out their function in the body of Christ. When leaders begin to relax on these essentials, lay leaders need to hold them accountable in love, helping them to move forward rather than become stuck in complacency. Somehow we have to find ways to strengthen the body of Christ through loving and invited accountability. Biblical accountability is invited, not imposed. Leaders must see the value of accountability in their lives and ministry.

What are the standards for your leaders? What are your standards for being a leader? What will it take for you to be a better leader?

The call of God for his church is to be on mission; to be salt, light, and leaven and to be faithful and fruitful. Unfortunately, in the decades gone by, many Christians and churches were identified more by their doing than by their being. The postmodern world is calling us to be. Moving a church forward and reaching people under thirty and keeping people over sixty is about relationships, values clarification, renewal of commitment to Christ, and moving the church forward, as well as the power of connection. To make this shift happen, powerful connection that resides in relationships is essential.

Hammett, Edward H., Paul L. Anderson, and Cornell Thomas. 2015. Reaching People under 30 While Keeping People over 60: Creating Community across Generations. First Edition. Danvers, MA: TCP.