1 in 4 millennials believe that they will be famous by the time they’re 25. This is a sobering statistic that I read in Rebekah Lyons‘ Instagram feed a few weeks ago as she quoted a data point from a panel at Q Commons. The thing that is most alarming to me about this data is that it is just as prevalent inside of the church as it is outside of it. With the level of comparison to other’s lives that we have at our fingertips these days, it’s easy to lose sight of our purpose and get caught up in wanting to be known. Our gifts, talents, abilities and calling are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), but they are still just that – gifts. We didn’t create them, nor were we the giver of them. We simply received them from God, which now makes them our stewardship responsibility to ask Him what He wants us to do with them and who He wants us to become to carry the weight of them. A lot of times that’s a moot point.
We become enamored by our abilities, or that of others, and then usually without conscious intent, the gift and calling become our identity instead of wrapping our identity in the One who gave the gift and calling in the first place.
When Jesus asked Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow Him, He wasn’t enamored with their gift and talent in the area of fishing, nor was He projecting on them their impending future abilities to raise the dead, preach, prophesy, start a church, or heal the sick. He was interested in one thing – their ability to FOLLOW HIM. They didn’t set out to become famous men who were known as Jesus’ disciples… Their hearts were stirred and at once they chose to FOLLOW him.
Our true teachability lies within a heart that is willing to follow Jesus anywhere, anytime, no matter the cost.
Matthew 4:18-22 NLV
18 Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He saw two brothers. They were Simon (his other name was Peter) and Andrew, his brother. They were putting a net into the sea for they were fishermen. 19 Jesus said to them, “Follow Me. I will make you fish for men!” 20 At once they left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going from there, Jesus saw two other brothers. They were James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were sitting in a boat with their father, mending their nets. Jesus called them. 22 At once they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus.
My heart breaks when I watch truly gifted and talented people unwilling to FOLLOW Jesus anywhere and do anything He’s asking them to do. Hey, I’ve been there! A lot of times we are actually trying to lead Jesus (or others in our world) to what we want and desire and then asking Him/them to bless it or make it happen. Sometimes we’ll even say “God said” and demand that our dream come true now, without walking through the due process to become the person that could even sustain or walk in the God dream. Let’s all take note and learn from Joseph (Genesis 37) so that we don’t have to make our own mistakes! Prematurely shared dreams can (not always) plant seeds of immaturity in our hearts that can grow and create foes that lead us into seasons we never saw coming. Instead, it’s wise that we ponder certain things in our hearts like Mary the mother of Jesus did right after she had given birth in Luke 2:19. I can’t be certain, but I can imagine that she was wondering what her life was about to look like as she raised the Son of God.
The Rich Young Ruler is a heart breaker. He seemingly did everything right his whole life except this one thing – actually choosing to die to himself, let go of everything and FOLLOW Jesus. He was invited into relationship with the Savior of the world, and then walked away because the cost was too great to follow. He did count the cost; he just wasn’t willing to pay it.
Mark 10:17-22 NIV
17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’[a]”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
There is a cost to following Jesus, and so often we’re not willing to pay it because we treat God like our genie in a bottle. Simply put, it does take sacrifice. It does take us picking up our cross and following Jesus as we die to ourselves and live our lives in Him. We want God to bless our good deeds but we refuse to live a life of getting to know Jesus, following Him wherever He leads us no matter how uncomfortable or unglamorous it may be. We seek another “prophetic word” without stewarding the ones that have already been given to us. We want the prophetic word to come to pass in our lives without asking God what He wants to do in us to sustain it, or who He wants us to become to walk in it.
Out of the 12 disciples, how many can you name? Now if you named all 12 off the top of your head, you’re my hero. Have you ever noticed of the 12 disciples that not all of them got a book named after them in the New Testament? How many of them were Jesus’ closest friends? The answer is 3. Not all 12, but 3. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that not all of them were famous, or even well known. Not all of them even got to see the most vulnerable and powerful moments in Jesus’ life like the Transfiguration or raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead. But each and every one of them had met Jesus and they were important to Him. The knew Him and more importantly He knew them. He had called them by name to follow Him and somehow they knew He was worth following to the death.
How willing are we to follow Jesus even if we’re anonymous for the rest of our lives? How honest can we really be in answering that question? Can your gift, talents and abilities still be used if no one sees or pats you on the back?
I get it, I really do – we want to be important, noticed, loved, significant… We want our lives to matter. But when we meet, and I mean truly meet and connect with The One who loves us in all of our anonymity, pain and shame – we’ll follow Him to the grave because He thought we were important enough to die for.
So who’s this really about? You, or Him?
Do you want to be FAMOUS or a FOLLOWER of Jesus?