“Don’t follow me. I’m lost.” Have you seen that bumper sticker? You can’t be too careful whom you follow. An epitaph on a tombstone in Missouri reads, “Remember friend as you pass by, as you are now, so once was I. As I am now, soon you may be. Prepare for death and follow me.”
Paul could invite the Corinthians to follow his example precisely because he was following Christ. I suppose Paul might have added the corollary: if I am not following Christ, do not follow me. Specifically, Paul was surrendering his rights for the sake of winning others. I sense these days that some would rather have our rights than to win people to Christ. What if we measured every decision by whether it drew us and others closer to Christ? How, then, would we live?
Everyone is following someone. We are either being discipled by Jesus who says, “Follow me,” or we are being discipled by a culture that says, “This is the way to go.” Would our spiritual DNA reveal that we are more like Christ or more like the world? Does television or the Bible have more input into our lives? Next to the aforementioned tombstone, someone suggested another sign to read, “To follow you I’m not content, until I know which way you went.” Follow Christ. He will get you all the way home.
