Who Should You Follow?

It’s too bad so many Christian people are caught up with “personalities” when it comes to their personal beliefs. The same thing was true in the days of the Apostle Paul who told the believers at Corinth that all they were really doing was create divisions.

1 Corinthians 3:3-7 (Contemporary English Version)
(3)  because you are not yet spiritual. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves that you are not spiritual and that you are acting like the people of this world.
(4)  Some of you say that you follow me, and others claim to follow Apollos. Isn’t that how ordinary people behave?
(5)  Apollos and I are merely servants who helped you to have faith. It was the Lord who made it all happen.
(6)  I planted the seeds, Apollos watered them, but God made them sprout and grow.
(7)  What matters isn’t those who planted or watered, but God who made the plants grow. 

If you’re going to believe what you read in the Bible, do it because you’ve read it for yourself and have settled it within your own heart. You don’t want to believe something just because someone else gave their opinion on the subject.

It’s great that you respect someone enough to place a high value upon their opinion. But when it comes to knowing and having faith in God, that’s something you yourself. In the New Covenant, you have complete access directly to God through Jesus Christ. On top of that, you have a promise of being led by God directly.

Romans 8:14
(14)  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

I remember in the months leading up to the year 2000. A lot of Christian people were talking about the end of the world and the mark of the beast leading up to the Y2K event with computer systems around the world. Some of my friends even got mad at me at the time because they didn’t think I was taking it serious enough.

Preachers, some very well-known, well-respected ones were warning the people.

Well, according to the Bible every Christian has the same access to God because of what Jesus did at the cross. Every believer can be led by the Spirit of God in their day to day lives. So I prayed about it and deep down on the inside, there was zero urgency about the matter. So I just went ahead and ignored the “group think” of the day.

Some people will get annoyed at you if you don’t think the same way they do. That’s okay. If you have peace on the inside about a particular decision you’re making, that’s what you have to go with.

What happened with the whole Y2K episode is a matter of record. Nothing happened. The whole thing was just another of the many distractions people get caught up with. Today, the same thing is happened. You have people panicking at every turn. I don’t know about you, but I choose not to live like that. I choose to trust God to provide guidance for me one day at time and not forecast what might or might not happen tomorrow. Sure, I make plans for tomorrow, but those plans are most definitely subject to change.

James 4:13-17 (Modern King James Translation)
(13) Come now, those saying, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and spend a year there, and we will trade and will make a profit,
(14) who do not know of the morrow. For what is your life? For it is a vapor, which appears for a little time, and then disappears.
(15) Instead of you saying, If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.
(16) But now you boast in your presumptions. All such boasting is evil.
(17) Therefore to him who knows to do good, and does not do it, to him it is sin.

I think it’s good for people to check up on themselves from time to time and take a closer look at who and what they’re listening to. Looking back on this particular incident, I don’t know who was sincere in their beliefs and who was just in it to sell some books. That’s a judgment call and I’m not in position to judge these people. I’m just calling it for what it is, making the necessary adjustments… and moving forward.

photo credit: Adam Foster | Codefor via photopin cc