Following

Make my joy complete by being of a single mind, one in love, one in heart and one in mind. Nothing is to be done out of jealousy or vanity; instead, out of humility of mind everyone should give preference to others, everyone pursuing not selfish interests but those of others. Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are; and being in every way like a human being, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.

–Philippians 2:3-8

Having decided that following Jesus is the only way to go, how exactly do we do that? We know it’s more than a social media follow. We are not just interested in Jesus. It’s not just fan; it’s follower. Following Him means becoming like Him. How is that possible. He’s God. We can’t see Him. He’s seated at the right hand of the Father. Is following the Son of God even possible? Is it just a carrot dangled before us that we can never reach?

It’s certainly impossible on our own, but we are not on our own. We have helps that make following possible.

We have the Word which reveals Jesus from first verse to the last. It shows us Him as Messiah of Prophecy, Incarnate Babe, Suffering Servant, Savior and Soon Returning King. Though His Word, He is more knowable than any other person in history, living or dead.

We don’t just have a written record We have living help. The promised Helper indwells and makes Jesus not just a knowable historic character, but real and intimately close. He teaches, comforts, directs and inspires. He makes the spiritually impossible, possible.

Of all the attributes of Christ for us to know and adopt, the most important one is His humility.  The first and continuing step of being like Christ is a humility that achieves death of self. [O]ut of humility of mind everyone should give preference to others, everyone pursuing not selfish interests but those of others. Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus:

Sin has made us above all selfish. Jesus is above all selfless. Remember that Jesus told us that we would be known as His by how we loved each other. Real love is seeking the interest of others and not ourselves.  The Holy Spirit draws us to Jesus. Teaches us humility. Draws us to Christ in others. In others we find Christ’s love demonstrated to us and through us. We abandon selfishness and learn selflessness.

As we gather tomorrow on the Lord’s day, let’s do so with following in mind. Let’s worship with a goal of focusing on God and remembering how great He is and how small we are. Let’s move to thanksgiving that as insignificant as we are He seeks a relationship with us. But Sunday isn’t just a God and us thing. It’s a vertical and horizontal experience. Let’s look around. Let’s see Jesus in our brothers and sisters. Let’s also see the need to be Jesus to others. Let’s be the living, loving church Jesus envisioned. Let’s start by being Jesus to each other and then to the world.