Be a visionary leader.
Be a trailblazer.
Be a trendsetter.
Be an influencer.
Be a Lone Ranger.
Be an independent thinker.
Be a self-made man or woman.
Be self-reliant and self-sufficient.
Such is the call of our culture. But it’s a lie. Little more than a marketing strategy. And it’s so loud and pervasive and persistent that it’s hard to truly hear the call of Jesus: “Follow me.” We’re conditioned to not hear it. Our environment is designed to drown it out.
Being a follower is never an ideal that anyone aspires to. No one ever wants to be a follower when they grow up. It never ends up on someone’s résumé. More often, it’s used as a cut-down. “He’s such a follower!” You’d almost think it’s a four-letter word.
But still, if you happen to hear Jesus’ voice cut through all the noise, an appropriate response must be more than simply tacking a belief system onto your life or working some religious practices into your schedule. It means deconstructing, reevaluating, and possibly completely rejecting the marketing pitch of our culture, and accepting the glorious shame of being a follower.
