Follow Me

We all like to be around people that are like us…
That look like us.
That dress like us.
That like what we like.

We are drawn to people of similar personality and preferences.
It’s the way we work.
It’s the way we’re comfortable.

At the same time, we were never meant to all act, talk, look, and be the same.

A lot of churches and a lot of Christians seem to operate like…

We don’t mind letting “guests” in our church doors as long as they meet our standards.
We don’t mind welcoming new Christians as long as they already look and act like us.
We don’t mind evangelizing to others, as long as they’ll quickly adapt to our standards.

That’s just wrong!

God never called us to evangelize and lead people to Christ for the sake of them becoming just like us,
God called us to evangelize and lead people to Christ so that they will follow Christ.

Don’t try to convert people to your standard,
help people meet Christ and then let Him be THE standard.

You may be surprised by the end result!


Comments

12 responses to “Follow Me”

  1. Michele Avatar
    Michele

    Needed to be reminded of this today. Thanks.

    1. And this is exactly why I’m a missionary. In the ministry I work with, It’s the ones that have never seen anything like us before that we go after… so far, Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico, and back to Guatemala in about 3 weeks… and the last thing we do is try to change them or make them be like us. God made them who and what they are for a purpose, and far be it from us to say that any of it needs to change. As far as we’re concerned, it’s our job to get them saved and make disciples of them. Any changing that needs to happen is God’s decision, not ours… as it’s also His job, not ours.

      Trying to make them like us in a place that’s not like ours does far more damage than it could ever do good… what they have and what they are is all they’ve ever known, so who are we to come along and put it into their heads that they need to change to be like us? If we do that, how have we left them? Suddenly realizing how little they have Knowing that there’s something better out there and that they don’t have it and can’t get it, especially when they just got saved and don’t yet have the faith or knowledge of Scripture they need to pray and believe God for better? If we do something like that, then if they had any hope to begin with, then we’ll have just taken it away. NOT how God intended us to leave them.

      And I don’t mean just in the Mayan and Aztec villages we go to, but I’ve watched it happen to people right here at home, too. I can’t help wondering how many walked away from places God called them to because they were given this attitude, and are now missing God’s plan for them because someone else decided they don’t have the right hair cut, wear the right clothes, think the same way, etc., and tried to shove them into a mold they don’t fit into… I was almost one of those… twice.

  2. It’s for this very reason that I love Countryside Christian Center. People don’t have to look like us, sound like us, dress like us, etc. to be welcome and accepted into our fold. Great post, Jonathan!

  3. Let Him be the standard.

    Very well said.

  4. Great point. I like that last statement:
    “Don’t try to convert people to your standard,
    help people meet Christ and then let Him be THE standard.”

    I think (well I know I do this) that we like to put Jesus through our standards and ideas and then expect others to know those standards and beliefs and expect people to follow those.
    Which obviously causes tons of problems and instead of helping others we hinder.
    Thank goodness the Gospel message does not always rely on the messenger that is trying to tell others about it.

    1. Amen. I don’t think it’s wrong for us to help people through issues and out of sin, it’s wrong when we begin to think everyone should be EXACTLY like us. Kind of skews the church as a body as well. Thanks Kyle!

  5. If everyone looked like me, what an ugly crowd that would be.

    Definitely a great reminder Jonathan to let Christ be the standard.

  6. Jessie Isom Avatar
    Jessie Isom

    You are dead on brother! Awesome and timely word.

  7. This type of thing needs to be heard more often. I’m guilty… I know…

  8. I like your perspective here Jonathan. We frequently misjudge another person, when we see them through our own ideals!

  9. My thoughts EXACTLY.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *