Following Christ by Joseph M. Stowell – Part 4

A Passionate Pursuit

When Christ Said, “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19), He sued a specific word that underscores that followers are to embrace Him as the essence of their existence. The word literally means to “come after”. Following is a directional thing. It is to position Christ as our singular, passionate pursuit in all things. With every thought, choice, and response to life, fully devoted followers move towards proximity and intimacy with Christ.

Paul Hiebert, professor of missions at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, envisions biblical Christianity as a paradigm with Christ at the center. He notes that authentic followers are in the process of moving closer to Christ. Each decision moves the arrow closer to the One we are pursuing. Hiebert notes that some who have been moving towards Christ becomes distracted by some seduction, turn their arrows around, and with wrong choices grow increasingly distant from Christ. And what of us who have decided that we are close enough and simply  go into orbit around Christ? This holding pattern is particularly comfortable when we note that others are orbiting farther away than we are. But to be a follower means that Christ is the all-consuming center of our experience toward whom we are moving.

Unfortunately, Hiebert notes, we have often viewed Christianity as open space defined by boundaries of rules, traditions, and doctrine. As long as we stay in the space without climbing over the walls that define Christianity, we assume we are good Christians. And while it is true that authentic Christianity has well-defined boundaries, authentic Christians do more than compliantly fill space. Christianity is more than a random racquetball experience of bouncing off walls as we are propelled through sanctified air by often conflicting influences that try to direct our Christianity experience.

Christianity is Christ at the center, with followers converging steadily toward Him within the context of legitimate biblical boundaries.

Life is like a galaxy. There is always something at the center that defines and directs everything else that moves around it.  As the sun is to our solar system, so the Son should be to our existence. He is the center point that brings light, life, meaning, purpose, and direction to all we do. As the center, He defines and establishes our view of every possession and pursuit.

For many Christians, Christ is relegated to one of the tracks circling whatever it is that we have substituted  for Him in the center. Whether it’s our career, our plans and dreams, money, friends, self, or a dozen other things. Christ-followers refuse to have anything in the center but Him. Our lives spiral ever closer to Him in tracks of intimacy and fellowship. The closer we get to Him as the center of our universe, the more of Him we reflect. The closer we track, the more of His justice, love, truth, patience, humility, and power is evident in our daily routine.

While true followers acknowledge Christ as the strategic center, most of us stop short of that. We are quite satisfied to relate to Him; accept His liberation from hell; praise Him; find comfort, solace, and joy in Him; and be intrigued by Him. But few are bent toward following Him unconditionally. And that makes all the difference in the world – in our own little world and the larger world around us.

~to be continued~