Following Jesus for all its worth

Have you ever done this?

It happened to me the other day.  I grabbed my keys, headed out the door, drove to work, walked in, sat at my desk & then had this thought, “How did I get here?”  I literally couldn’t remember the drive in.  It was like my brain was on autopilot.  I was thinking about other things.  I got from point A to point B safely but I really couldn’t remember the drive in!

I wonder how often we do this in other areas of our lives?  Sometimes I feel like entire days play out this way for me.  We rush through the routine of getting the kids up, dressed, fed, to school, I go to work, we all come home, do homework, dinner, bedtime & then crash on the couch & wonder… What just happened?  The day flew by seemingly in a flash!

My greatest concern in moments like this is just how easy it is to passively move through life.  To do what it takes to drive from home to work.  To do what it takes to make it through the day.  But to do so with so little intentionality.

The Power of Habit

Part of this is the way we’re wired.  Charles Duhigg, the author of “The Power of Habit,”  says that 45% of all our activity, good or bad, is related to habit.  Our brains have an instinct of making things we commonly do as habits.  It turns patterns into habits so we can think about other things.  It’s a way our brains can work more efficiently & help us conserve energy.

I think that’s great.  And we can certainly leverage that for good.  But I wonder how this works out in relationship to our faith?  I wonder what effect this has on how we follow Jesus?

Passively Following Jesus

I hesitate to put a number on it, but I wonder how many years I’ve spent passively following Jesus?

I think back to that night & what it must have been like.  To be out on the boat in the middle of the lake.  At first the water was calm.  But then, seemingly out of no where, a storm blows up.  There’s not much time to react.  Not much time to make the necessary preparations to secure everything in the boat & to try to head for land.  It’s 3AM.  Pitch black. But through the crackling of the lightning the guys see someone in the distance.  First reaction: Fear.  That’s the default first responder of our emotions.  But then there’s that familiar voice speaking that familiar phrase, “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”

The voice belongs to Jesus.  The disciples in the boat know that now, everything will be ok.

But Peter famously asks, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”

And Jesus says, “YES!”

It’s at this point, I think, for far too long we have given Peter a bad wrap.  If you know the story then you’ve heard this told the same way a thousand times.  Peter gets out of the boat.  The guy WALKS ON WATER.  Then yes, he begins to sink & Jesus has to save him.  But at least Peter had the courage & the faith to get out of the boat!

What about the other 11?  
At this point in the story they had seen Jesus heal the sick, make blind people see, make lame people walk, make deaf people hear & much, much more.  At this point in the story they had participated in feeding 5000+ people with five pieces of bread & two fish.  If anyone believed Jesus was who he said he was, it was these guys.

But none of them got out of the boat.  Why?

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There’s a difference, you know, between being an active follower of Jesus & a passive follower of Jesus.  Both believe in Jesus as Lord.  Only one puts that faith into action.

Choosing to believe vs. choosing to follow

Active followers of Jesus of Nazareth do something.  Even though there’s risk involved they put their faith into action.  Even though they might sink they’re willing to get out of the boat & attempt to walk on water for a few moments.  Because even if they do begin to sink they know exactly who will reach out & catch them.

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Too many of us believe in Jesus.  We go through the motions.  But we are not actively pursuing Jesus.  Our faith has little to no impact on our lives.  Our hope is that our belief in Jesus will alter our eternity, but not interfere with our immediate lives too much.

How do we begin to actively follow Jesus of Nazareth?
So how do we flip the switch?  How do we wake up?  How do we step out of the boat?

First: Make time for a relationship with Jesus.
You can’t follow a leader you don’t really know.  And if you don’t really know who you’re following you’ll have little motivation to follow him.  Those followers of Jesus I respect the most all have one thing in common.  They don’t just know about Jesus, they know him.  There’s a familiarity of friendship when they pray.  There’s a peace about them when things go sideways.  There’s something different about how they move through life.  And I think it’s simply this, they are in an abiding relationship with Jesus of Nazareth.  So they don’t have to worry or be afraid.  Essentially they’re walking on water.  The rest of us are stuck in the boat.

Second: Take time to learn from Jesus.
Passive followers of Jesus don’t do this.  They do the bare minimum.  They operate out of default mode.  Active followers of Jesus not only make time to have a real relationship with Jesus, they take time to learn from him too.  The amazing thing is that Jesus is willing to be our ever present teacher.  He was & is a Master Rabbi.  We’ll spend all our days learning from him if we will take time to do so.  But this doesn’t happen on autopilot.  We have to take time to actively learn from him.

Third: Allow their lives to be interrupted by Jesus.
For many of us this will be the hardest part.  We don’t have much margin, & what margin we do have we are understandably selfish with.  But Jesus is going to constantly interrupt your life with opportunity.  Will you let him?  Or will this frustrate you?  Followers of Jesus are generous with their time & with their very lives.  And when Jesus presents them with a moment to step in & do something they seize the moment.

The Choice

We have a choice.  We can passively follow Jesus or actively follow Jesus.  Don’t get wrong… living the Christian life is so much more about what Jesus has done than what we may do.  But Jesus seems to always call people into action.  He called Peter out of the boat.  May you & I have the courage to step out & do something amazing in the name of Jesus as well.

The difference between being an active follower of Jesus & a passive follower of Jesus? Which one are you? >> http://t.co/d9SVDcnKPZ

— coreytrevathan (@coreytrevathan) August 27, 2015