A COMMITTED FOLLOWER

A COMMITTED FOLLOWER

A few weeks ago I put together an article called "Fickle Followers" who started out to follow Jesus but had never counted the cost, and fell away when they found out what is expected of them. This article will point out what Jesus expects of a true follower of His. Bob Mumford does a good job of explaining this in his book "Mysterious Seed". On page 169 he lists 6 things that Jesus asks of His followers, 1/ to deny ones' self, 2/ to take up one's own cross, 3/ to lose one's own life, 4/ to be last and least, 5/ to drink the cup that Jesus drank, 6/ and be baptized with His baptism. (Matt 16:24-25; 20:16). There is certainly a lot more to being a committed follower of Jesus than most churches in the West prepare their members to expect. It would seem they have presented a "soft gospel" as part of their "seeker sensitive" presentation that never mentions repentance, separation from the world the flesh and the devil, or any suffering for Jesus. This is a far cry from the True Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus or the apostles like Paul or Peter preached. It is more like the "false gospel" that Paul mentions in his second letter to the church in Corinth, (2 Cor 11:1-4). And this letter was sent only a couple years after his first letter in which he explained the true gospel in (1 Cor 15:1-6), so you see clearly how fast a "false gospel" can spread through a church, in this case it was only a period of a few years.

It would appear to me that "many", not just a few, false so-called apostles and teachers have appeared in certain church circles in the past decade or two, and they have been received by some people without being first tested by scripture to see if they are authentic. Check out (1 Thess 5:12-22), and also (1 Tim 4:1-2) for some good advice from Paul. I have been very surprised at how little discernment is shown by believers, who have going faithfully to evangelistic churches for many years, when it comes to being deceived so easily by a smooth talking so-called "Evangelist" from out of town, sharing some "new revelation" that he has just received, and is eager to share it with the "Body".  

First off, there is no such thing in my mind as a "new revelation"! There can only be a further "illumination" on the original revelation given to us by our Creator God that He had recorded in His Book, that we call our Bible. So if we are called to become a follower of Jesus, let us be sure we are a "committed follower" and not a fickle one!!

Sincerely submitted.

Dave Jamer                                                                                     17/06/13