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Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering, embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself?...”

Matthew 17:24-26, The Message

Did you play Follow the Leader as a child? I would be willing to bet you did! I certainly spent my fair share of childhood following and leading my friends through playgrounds and backyards around trees and over rocks, hopping on one foot, patting my head, et cetera and so forth.

I’d say it’s part of our human nature to follow one we determine to be the leader. We tend to look for guidance, instruction, on what to do and how to do it, how to live our lives in society. Often unconsciously. We look for leadership and get in that leader’s groove when we find it. Bob Dylan famously wrote Gotta Serve Somebody, the actions you choose are going to be following in somebody’s way.

Before early Christians were called “Christians,” they were referred to as followers of “The Way.” The Way of Jesus Christ.

In our society today, there are differences of opinion as to what that way is and what it looks like, from humble service to insistence on certain behaviors. I hear people falling into arguments about what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

Myself, I lean on scripture to hear Jesus’s own words and see his actions. But not stopping there, I also lean on the gathered community of followers of The Way: reading scripture aloud when we are gathered together in the name of Christ, leaving our egos and certainties at the door and humbly asking the Holy Spirit to open to us Christ’s Way, discussing together our thoughts, questions, ponderings, humbly listening to views that differ from our own and seeking genuine understanding.

As we begin this new chapter at Beautiful Savior, I wonder: How shall we gather together to hear this Word and follow in the Way? How would you like to engage scripture together? I want to hear your thoughts!

Jesus said to those who would follow in his Way, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”