There are corporations that I admire. I admire World Vision. They help partner people with children in need around the world, and they make a huge difference in their lives. I admire the National Football League. They have taken a game and turned it into a phenomenon, dominating Sunday afternoons and Monday nights every fall. I even admire the United Methodist Church. For all their faults, they have found a way to take an extremely diverse conglomerate of people and unite them - if not always easily - under the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
I admire these organizations and corporations. But I do not follow them.
I don't want to change my life to be more like the United Methodist Church. I can't relate to them on a personal level. I like some of the things they do, and I appreciate what they stand for. But I don't follow them.
I follow people. I look to people like Adam Hamilton and Mike Slaughter and a host of others within the denomination. I look to my colleagues in ministry. I look to the great leaders of organizations like Richard Sterns of World Vision. I can't model my life after organizations. I can model my life after the lives of others.
I know to be careful when doing this. People are human and have flaws. Honestly, that speaks to me, because I also am human and have flaws. But what I know to do is to look to people for examples of what it looks like to live a Christ-like life.
Whether you are in a position of leadership or not, people are looking at you. Someone is following you. Maybe it's coworkers, a spouse, a sibling, a child, a neighbor, a fellow church member. Someone is looking at you as they try to figure out how to live their lives.
People follow people, not organizations and corporations. If people follow you, where will they end up?
The key is in who you are following. Be sure that you are following those who are following Christ, so that others may end up following Christ as well.
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