What does it mean to be a Christian? This is a question that is asked by new believers, long-time believers, and non-believers alike. If we are going to call ourselves a Christian, then we should at least know what it really means. For centuries, scholars, theologians, pastors, believers, and non-believers have studied the life and teachings of Jesus. They have learned Hebrew and Greek to read the Bible in the original languages. They have studied church history and read thousands of books that dive into the depth of theology. Yet, the ever present question is summed up in that being a Christian is all about following Jesus.
What Does It Mean To Follow Jesus?
In Mark 8:27-34, Jesus is going viral. He burst on the scene in an epic party move of changing water into top-quality wine at a wedding and nothing has been the same since. Now large crowds are gathering wherever He goes. Some flock to Him looking for religious teachings to learn more. Some come for a show because Jesus is doing miracle after miracle and people don’t want to miss the spectacle. Others come because for the first-time in their life, they have hope that Jesus could heal them.
Rumors were spreading that Jesus could be the long-awaited Messiah who was coming to redeem God’s people and restore the world. People from all over came for all different reasons. But Jesus wanted more than just a crowd of people gathering around Him. So He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
By the time this question is posed, Jesus has opened blind eyes, fed thousands of people with bread and fish, and is doing things no mere human can do. Everybody knows at this point that Jesus is not an ordinary man, but they are unsure of who He really is.
In Mark 8:28, the disciples respond to Jesus’ question by saying, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” So Jesus probes a little here, because He wants to know what they think, personally. “But who do you say that I am?” ask Jesus. Peter answered him by proclaiming, “You are the Christ” Peter is saying something profound. Jesus is the Messiah. Now, this is a big, big deal. The Jewish people have been waiting for the “Christ” (which just means, “the promised one”) for more than 3000 years. Peter is proclaiming that he believes Jesus is the Christ: The Messiah, Anointed one of God. Jesus is the one that has come to redeem humanity and restore the broken relationship between humankind and God.
Jesus accepts the title-but then immediately turns around and begins to say things they find appalling and shocking.
“And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would follow after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” - Mark 8:30-34 (ESV)
Now, typically, rebukes are the kind of thing you do privately, right? Jesus doing this publicly must have meant that what Peter said was so dangerous, but also that Peter was not the only one that would struggle with following Jesus.This is why Jesus, at this moment, not only turns to Peter, but He now turns to the crowd. This is Mark's way of saying, Jesus is not just saying this to Peter, He wants you to hear this too. He wants everyone to hear this.
Then He turns to Peter and the crowd and He is going to make it absolutely clear what He is calling all of us to do. Peter it is time for you and everyone else that is in the crowd to make a decision, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” Jesus was calling them out of the crowd, not to embarrass them, but to step out of the crowd to follow Him. Jesus wants you to follow Him that is why He called you.
What is Jesus Calling Me To Do?
This is where everything changes.Now, Jesus has called us out to follow him, but what exactly is He wanting us to do?
1. Jesus Wants You To Believe in Him
In order to follow Jesus, you must first believe in Him. What Peter professes in Mark 8:29 is the ‘Good News’ (or Gospel) of Jesus Christ. The Good News that Peter is proclaiming is that God, the Creator of all things, is good, and has a desire for personal relationship with each one of us. God sent His own Son, Jesus, as a willing sacrifice, to suffer and die for the sins and wrongdoings of humanity. Jesus would rise from the dead and return to Heaven, making a way for us to enter Heaven, as well. The miracles and teachings of Jesus confirmed the truth for Peter that the One the Jewish people were waiting for to redeem them has finally arrived.
Jesus’ rebuke in Mark 8:30-34 was not to embarrass them, but to step out of the crowd to be with Him. To actually follow Him. To pursue Him above all other pursuits. The call is to personally know Him, not just know about Him. He wanted people to come after Him so that they could be with Him. That’s still His heart today.
2. Jesus Wants You To Build A Relationship With Him
Following Jesus is more than just believing, but pursuing. It’s not solely a question of what I believe in, but what does my belief push me to pursue?
Peter believed that Jesus at that moment was the Messiah. But he wasn’t always willing to pursue Jesus when it did not look the way he thought it should look. The crowd that day believed there was something incredible about Jesus but many were not willing to pursue Him. That is why Jesus says, I am not calling you to just believe, but follow after Me.
We get stuck in our belief, not because we don’t believe, but because we don’t pursue what we believe. We’re just believing and never allowing that belief to shape our life.What you believe to be true is proven in the times when your soul is lonely, when your patience is stretched, when what you want to happen does not happen. What you pursue in those moments is what you believe in.
In Matthew 4, Jesus was tempted to turn stones into bread. The devil said, “go ahead and turn the stone into bread.” Jesus retorted, “no.” Now nowhere is there a command that says, “thou shalt not turn bread in the stone.” What the devil was attempting to do was to get Jesus to substitute his belief in God for something else. He was trying to get Jesus comfortable in merely believing God could take care of His needs, but yet, in that moment, pursue something else to satisfy His needs.
This is the great temptation for all of us and it’s what keeps us stuck in the crowd and not walking forward into what Jesus has for us in our life. However, Jesus’ death and resurrection has allowed us to build a relationship with God in every area of our lives. We build a relationship with God when we talk to Him throughout our day, ask Him to guide our decisions, and make choices that honor Him. The most difficult part of building a relationship with Jesus is that we do not see what God sees.
3. See the World As Jesus Does
When God calls you to live for him and walk in what He has for you, you will not be able to see it. Peter, just like us, freaks out about where Jesus is leading. What Jesus comforts us with is that He knows life’s uncertainty freaks us out because we are not there yet. We can’t see how we will ever be able to go forward. We can’t see a way through it.That’s why Jesus is calling us to follow Him. Jesus knows! He sees what God sees, and He sees what we can’t see. The only way we can get to where God wants us to be is by following Jesus. We don’t follow Jesus because we understand. We follow Jesus because we don’t understand.
When you see the world as Jesus does, you begin to see a glimpse of hope in everything. Trusting Jesus’ plan allows you to find joy in your job, family, friendship, and have peace in the unpredictability.
Who Can Follow Jesus?
Jesus calls us out as an invitation not to just believe in Him, but to build a relationship with Him and see life the way He sees it. The invitation to follow Jesus is not clean up your life. It’s not trying harder. He’s calling you out not demanding that you do better. He’s calling you out to come to Him. The call is to come to Him because what you need is in Him! You can come to Him however you are! Once you begin to follow Jesus, you can begin to see yourself as He does.
Who am I in Christ?
You are no longer condemned in Christ: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NIV)
- You are free in Christ: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” (Galatians 5:1 NIV)
- You are completely forgiven in Christ: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24 NIV)
- You are accepted in Christ: “You who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him” (Colossians 1:21–22).
- You are loved as a Child of God in Christ: “All who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).
- You are redeemed in Christ: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18–19 NIV).
- You are victorious in Christ: “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
- You are strengthened in Christ: “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NLT)
- You are made right in Christ: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him (Jesus Christ) we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV)
- You are confident in Christ: “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6 NIV)
The Big Challenge
Here is a BIG challenge: Start every day for the next 40 days with a prayer commitment to follow Jesus. Roll out of bed, fall to your knees before the Lord, and pray, “Jesus, You are my Lord; where You lead, I will follow. What do you want with my life today?” This one prayer every morning will change your entire life.