There’s
a word that is used over and over again throughout the Bible that has also become
incredibly popular in our contemporary culture over the last decade. It’s the
word FOLLOW. The word follow is used
over 250 times in scripture—and Jesus himself says the phrase ‘follow me’
twenty-one different times in the Gospels. And it makes sense that the word
‘follow’ is used so frequently in scripture, because following is central to a
life with God.
The
word follow has also become a regular
part of the contemporary lexicon through the advent of social media. Facebook uses
this word as the primary way to use their product and network with others. You
want to use Facebook…you follow
someone. To follow on Facebook means
you will receive regular updates about what they are doing and what they choose
to share with their followers.
The
irony of the Bible and Facebook using the same word so often, however, is that
when they each use the word follow,
they mean almost the exact opposite thing as the other. As Bishop Curry so
astutely pointed out in his sermon during the Royal Wedding, social media is a
socially dysfunctional way to connect with each other. So, when Facebook allows
me to follow someone online, they are
only guaranteeing that I will know some information about that person (whatever
the person chooses to share). But following someone on Facebook in no way
guarantees that I will actually be in relationship with that person. In fact,
research shows that a Facebook relationship may actually stunt a relationship.
Following, on Facebook, is shallow, impersonal, and often fails to result in
any actual relationship.
To
follow Jesus, however, is the exact opposite. To follow Jesus means you have
moved beyond a surface knowledge of Jesus and entered into a deep, abiding,
day-in-and-day-out commitment to walking the way and path of Jesus. Following
Jesus is costly and demands our dedication and intentionality. Following Jesus
means I will actually know Jesus—in a deep and abiding way—and our actual
relationship will result in a change in lifestyle and behavior. Where following
someone on Facebook is superficial and detached, following Jesus is profound
and personal.
But
the temptation is out there to follow Jesus in a Facebook sort of way—to know a
few things about him, show up to church once in a while, and never allow his
radical message of love, inclusion, hospitality, and holistic salvation to soak
into our being and impact us at the core. We can even attend church weekly while
still not following Jesus the way he invites us to.
But,
while following Jesus is challenging and daunting, it is a good and beautiful
way to live and is worthy of our efforts. May we be willing to take this
challenge of following Jesus—abandoning the easy, comfortable, Facebook way of
following—taking up our cross daily to follow Jesus into lives of radical
humility and sacrificial love.
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