Are you following Jesus, or believing in Christ?
Do you believe in Christ? It isn’t hard to answer that. What is wanted is an affirmative response to treasured propositions about the Second Person of the Trinity. But when someone asks “Are you following Jesus?” – this can get to be expensive. This question has to do with my lifestyle, my attitudes, my values, my surrender.
If I’m following Jesus, why am I such a good insurance risk? If I’m following Jesus, why, when I have done my giving have I so much left over for myself? If I’m following Jesus, why do my closets bulge when so many are unclothed? If I’m following Jesus, why do I have so many friends among the affluent and so few among the poor? If I’m following Jesus, why do I have so much privacy in a world that is starved for love? If I’m following Jesus, why am I tempted to overeat in a world in which so many beg for bread? If I’m following Jesus, why am I getting on so well in a world that marked Him out for death?
Are you following Jesus or believing in Christ? Unfair you say; the two are inseparable. Theoretically, yes, but pragmatically, no. We separate them all the time. If we must, let us err on the side of following. For one can believe without following, but one cannot follow without believing! Author Jon Sobrino
