Why Did People Follow Jesus?

The whole concept behind the phrase “being followable” is that I hope people follow me, not because I’m worth following, but because I’m following Jesus. That means there are two aspects of ministry that have to constantly be in balance. First, I’d better be following Jesus. It does no one any good to follow me if I’m not following Jesus. Second, I’d better be leading others in such a way that they want to follow. A lot of people claim to be leaders, but no one is following them.

Church leadership development has gone viral. I probably have 20+ books on my shelf talking about leadership in the church. All of them try to give you just a little bit of an edge in improving your leadership. Church growth strategies are many and varied.  Everyone is trying to get bigger, to gain more people following them as they follow Christ.

Honestly, I’m ok with that. I love that people are trying to find unique and varied ways to bring people to Jesus. That’s Jesus’ commission to us as his disciples, right? To preach the good news and to bring others to know him?

The problem is, I believe we’re often making it harder than it really is. We develop long-term growth strategies and tweak mission and vision statements. We enact cleverly-acronymned programs and rebrand our core values. None of this is bad, but if we really want more people to follow us, I believe it is key to remember why people followed – and why we follow – Jesus.

In the gospel of John, Jesus was teaching before a large crowd of people. His teaching was getting more and more difficult. It rubbed many the wrong way. It convicted people in places they didn’t want convicted. Then we read this:

From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

(John 6:66-69, NIV)

True followers followed Jesus because he had the words of eternal life.

Do we?

We can come up with all sorts of great new leadership techniques. We can preach the paint off the walls. We can be more relevant and emergent than you can shake a stick at. But if we don’t have the words of eternal life, what are we leading others to?

There are several leadership principles that Jesus models for us as we seek to lead others to Him.

1)    The Bible is incredibly important.

This might seems like a given, but in my experience, that’s not always the case. It’s pretty easy to think your ideas are all you really need. There are at least 84 times I’ve counted that Jesus quotes the Old Testament. He hardly ever says anything that doesn’t come straight from the teachings of God’s word. There is strength in leading using the scripture.

2)    Jesus spoke hard truths.

I hate making people mad. I want people to like me. So sometimes speaking hard truths to others is something I shy away from. Jesus didn’t have that problem. He spoke truth when truth was needed, even if it meant that some might not like him. It seems paradoxical that people would want to follow someone that said things they didn’t like, but if I just tell people what they want to hear, I’m doing them no good. Jesus knew that there is power in truth telling.

3)    Jesus tied together physical and spiritual healing.

For some reason, there seems to be a separating for many between helping others with spiritual needs and helping others with physical needs. Our ministries are either Bible studies or soup kitchens. Jesus always tied the two together. When he would meet someone with a physical need, he would meet that physical need as a bridge to also meeting a spiritual need. He would heal and teach, teach and heal. Because of this, people wanted to be around him.

4)    Jesus taught a new kind of love and grace.

This is probably the most important way that Jesus shared the words of eternal life. Throughout his ministry, Jesus modeled a love and a grace that knew no boundaries. He touched lepers. He laughed with children. He forgave sinners. Though he spoke hard truths and pushed people to repent of sinful lives, it didn’t stop him from eating with tax collectors and welcoming prostitutes. Even Judas Iscariot, who would betray Jesus, found a place of welcome at the table of the man who he would one day send to his death. I wonder if Jesus’ disciples looked back at how Jesus treated Judas and marveled at what kind of love he showed.

Let’s all continue to lead others as we follow Christ. But as we do so, let’s remember the real reason people are following: they need the words of eternal life that come only from Christ.