Chapter 7 - The UnFollowed Jesus

Only Those Who Follow Christ Can Be Christ's Followers

We have said before that religion opposes Christ as vehemently as secularism. Let's clarify this a bit. We have asked the question "Who is the real Jesus?", but what does it mean to be a real "Christian"? What is the significance of calling oneself a "follower" of Christ?  Is it not someone who believes in Jesus' teaching - someone who thinks that within that teaching lies the answers mankind is seeking? Jesus told his followers, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching." (John 14:23) Therefore, calling oneself a "Christian" apart from following Christ's teaching is meaningless. What exactly does it mean when we ask the question "What is a real Christian?"

Being a "Christian" does not mean being someone who goes to church every time the doors are open. According to Jesus, it involves character, obedience, attitude and how we treat others. Going to church might help one practice Christ's teaching, but it is not a substitute for obedience. The fact remains that the real Jesus taught that many would claim to have done "good" things in his name, but that he would say "depart from me, I never knew you". Let's look at a few statements he made on this matter:

"Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46)

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" (Matthew 7:21-23)

"Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching." (John 14:23-24)

"Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”" (Matthew 25:41-46)

Based on these teachings of Christ, going to church makes one a Christian no more than going to a hospital makes one a doctor of medicine. A doctor is not a doctor because he stands inside a hospital - he is a doctor because he has trained himself for many years in the medical arts and he daily practices medicine, constantly striving to better his patient's lives. So it is with those who claim to follow Jesus. They may attend church faithfully, but if they do not daily practice his teaching in their lives they are not truly his followers. Once again, what do we mean when we ask the question "What is a real Christian?"

Being a Christian does not mean becoming someone who acquires an education in theology or has a divinity degree. History is peppered with many theological and religiously educated professionals who denied Christ and disobeyed his teaching and encouraged others to do the same. A trend is emerging among the clergy that has disturbingly been coined as "Black Collar Crime". I remember a few years ago how shocked I was that a local pastor in Orlando, George Crossley, who led a weekly Bible study on television, was caught in an attempt to hire a contract killer to murder the husband of the woman he was having an affair with. That's quite a lot to take in at once, I know. Crossley called himself a "Christian", but can we say that this man was following Christ's teachings? No. How many theologically educated clergy profess to be "Christians" but live hypocritical lives? How many laymen claim to be "Christian" but have more interest in politics and power and committees than in obeying and living out the teaching of Jesus?

Many a bigot has tried to use God to justify their personal prejudice and unholy deeds. Some white-sheet-wearing clan members actually pray in Jesus' name before they go out to burn crosses and attack innocent victims. The hypocrisy of doing this in Jesus' name is ludicrous. Just as cruel as the racism and hatred they propagate, these KKK members slander the followers of Jesus and assassinate the character of Christ. The actions of the Black Panthers are no less hypocritical when they use Jesus in churches to promote violent actions. We might contrast these violent and radical groups who exploit the name of Christ for their dirty deeds with someone who truly believed in Christ's teaching of non-violence - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We are not disputing the right of free people in a free country to assemble themselves together for peaceful purposes. We are disputing the exploitation of Jesus as a poster-child for violent causes that he openly taught against and condemned. We are protesting the hijacking of true Christianity as it is being replaced with an imposter Messiah that allows men to literally get away with murder. Consider another case and point:

Fred Phelps is pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church and sponsors many different websites like www.GodHatesAmerica.com. He and his followers frequently picket the funerals of American soldiers killed in the Iraq war with signs and placards stating that their deceased sons or daughters are "burning in hell". As the parents of these deceased soldiers grieve, Phelps's followers scream that their children, having died in the savagery of war and in service to their country, will be in eternal torment. Knowing the words spoken in the gospels by the real Jesus, we can't imagine he would approve of the war in Iraq. The killing and bloodshed would utterly grieve him. Christ rejected violence, teaching that we should not return evil for evil as an "eye for an eye", but that we should forgive our enemies and turn the other cheek. This is a daunting task, to say the least.

In this aspect, the real Jesus would not play up to those who seek to use him to justify a war. Yet neither would he stand before grieving parents, friends and family at a soldier's funeral who honored his or her country by paying the ultimate price and spew hatred and condemnation as they were being buried. How un-Christ-like can someone be? When Lazarus died Jesus wept. (John 11:35-36) His response was compassion. Despite Israel's wrongdoing, Christ loved the people to whom he was sent:

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. "(Matthew 23:37)

Here we see Jesus stirred deeply with compassion over those who rejected him. The real Jesus would have sought not only to end the violence of war, but to comfort those whose lives had been destroyed and maimed because of it. Jesus always had compassion for the suffering, broken, poor, sick and wounded. He saved his anger and indignation for Pharisees like Phelps and his followers.

Phelps maintains another website among many, www.GodHatesFags.com. He and his congregation, believing that it is their divine mission, often go on picketing crusades with signs that say "God Hates Fags" and "God Hates Fag Enablers". Do we honestly think the real Jesus would have done that? Jesus was not afraid to offend people - he was no "suck up". He did not waffle on his standards and would be the first to convict someone of a life of selfishness and emptiness. But he didn't tell them "God hates you - you are doomed!", his message was that "God loves you - you can change and become more than what you are".

The central message of the gospel as taught by the real Jesus is that, no matter what we have done, we can be forgiven - we can be redeemed. The gospel declares that we are a fallen people bent on self-destruction, and that without God's intervention we are lost and will be eternally separated from him, but that there is still hope - we can be transformed - born again into something and someone totally new. Jesus says it was for this reason that he came into the world. (John 3:17) Phelps and those like him contradict Christ to preach a gospel of doom, despair and damnation. 

Phelps and his followers have dozens of websites proclaiming so much hatred: GodHatesTheWorld, GodHatesFags, GodHates America, GodHatesCanada, GodHatesMexico, GodHatesSouthAfrica, GodHatesTheUnitedKingdom, GodHatesNigeria, GodHatesItaly, GodHatesIraq, GodHatesRussia, GodHatesChina, GodHatesIndonesia, GodHatesIndia, GodHatesPakistan, GodHatesAustraila, GodHatesThePhillipines, GodHatesJapan, GodHatesSweden, GodHatesIreland, GodHatesFinland and AmericaIsDoomed. According to these individuals, God hates everyone. They might have saved a little money and time had they simply purchased the domain "GodHatesEveryone.com". Is this the message that Christ brought to us in the gospels 2,000 years ago? I think not.

Once again, we have to ask - why does Phelps call himself a "Christian"? There are many other teachers and deities to choose from that might more closely support his views. He does not follow Christ's teachings and he breaks Christ's commandments while teaching others to do the same - yet identifies as a Christian? It's utterly preposterous that this man could claim to have anything to do with the real Jesus, let alone be his follower. How do we know? Let's examine how he contradicts just a few principals that Christ taught in the gospels:

"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”" (John 8:3-11)

Here we see the love, wit and compassion of Christ. He did not wish to condemn the woman, nor allow others to do so. He showed her kindness. Neither did he waffle or compromise his integrity and standards. He did not condemn her for her actions, but neither did he excuse her wrongdoing. She had taken a wedding vow made before God, her husband and witnesses and broken it. She broke her promise to her husband to keep faith with him and be intimate with him only and no other. Jesus addressed this wrong, he did not excuse it, and he told her stop committing this act, saying "Go now and leave your life of sin." But he did not condemn her. He did not tell her God hated her. He forgave her and he loved her. Those who claim to be Jesus' followers must embrace the same attitude, else they are not his followers. Christ tells his followers: "I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be as wise as serpents, but as harmless as doves." (Matthew 10:16)

Phelps contradicts the very grain and fiber of Christ's teaching. Jesus was not hard on those enslaved by their vices to sins and lives of self-destruction. He asked them to change and to repent, but He loved them. On the other hand, Christ came down very hard on the religious caste and the self-righteous. Let's look at a few more examples of Jesus' teaching:

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28-29)

"But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”" (Matthew 9:13)

"If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. " (Matthew 12:7)

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
(John 13:343-35)

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17)

"“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:1-5)

"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. " (Luke 6:27-37)

Real followers of Jesus must conduct themselves in the likeness of their Master and Teacher. Christ's followers must seek to liberate those burdened with vices and sins trapped in self-destructive lifestyles and abuse. Jesus said that his followers can not deny him but must confess him before mankind:

"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." (Matthew 10:32-33)

Jesus intends his teaching and message to be viral - he commands his followers to reproduce. In this way, his teachings have transformed mankind over the last 2,000 years. But Jesus did not ask us to judge, nor to hate nor to inflict suffering on anyone. In this respect, Phelps has no more to do with Christ than light has to do with darkness. The religiosity of Phelps was the very thing Christ resisted and fought so hard against.

Perhaps some think that making these clarifications is unnecessary, yet ask yourself a few questions. When was the last time you went into a "Christian" church and heard a passionate message on "The Sermon on the Mount" - loving your enemies, blessing those who curse you and praying for those who use you (Luke 6:27-38, Matthew 5:38-48)? There is a reason you have not. It's an enormously difficult task, and therefore unpopular among the masses who would rather learn how to amass wealth or generate "warm fuzzies" than love their enemies. 

Jesus' teaching in this well-known passage was recently criticized by Barak Obama in a pre-election speech. He commented on how our military and department of defense could not exist on such "Sermon On The Mount" principals as "loving our enemies" and "turning the other cheek". Obama makes the case that the teachings of Christ are impractical for a nation's armed forces to follow. That may be so - we looked at the offending Christ in chapter 5. Many people just can not accept Jesus' teaching - and that's fine, as long as they don't claim to be his followers. But if they call themselves "Christians" yet don't follow Christ's teaching, they are of all people most hypocritical and delusional. If you can't stomach what Christ teaches you shouldn't be one of his followers. Think about it. Jesus said we should count the cost before we endeavor to build a tower.

"“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”" (Luke 14:28-35)

I think Obama makes a valid point - how could our military operate on this principal? I can't fault him for saying that. But that doesn't change the fact that Jesus taught those things two thousand years ago. It doesn't make them any less a requirement for his followers to practice in their daily lives. If someone says they are going to follow Jesus, then they must accept the teaching of Jesus, including the challenge of trying to live life according to the Sermon on the Mount. Otherwise they are not truly following Jesus at all but some other faith of their own choosing.

We certainly believe in an individual's freedom to choose what they believe in, but the choice should not be made frivolously. It would be silly for me to call myself a Buddhist yet reject the teaching of Buddha. It would be insane for me to call myself a Muslim and yet reject the teaching of Mohammed. It would be ludicrous for me to call myself a Jew and reject the teaching of Moses. If I am a vegetarian I won't frequent the local steakhouse. Likewise, it is completely irrational to call oneself a Christian and yet reject the teaching of Christ. It's more than irrational, it's slander. How many people, never having met the real Jesus, have been turned away by the false one? Here's some things the REAL Jesus said that must particularly grate against those who trust in their own righteousness and despise and condemn others:

"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” "
(Luke 18:9-14)

"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. “Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:2-12)

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are." (Matthew 23:13-15)

"“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel." (Matthew 23:23-24)

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Matthew 23:27-28)

So then, how does one become a "true" follower of Christ, one might ask? According to the REAL Jesus, it's simple - OBEY His commandments and you are a true follower, disregard them and you are not. Let's see what he has to say:

"If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15)

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (John 14:21)

"Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching." (John 14:23-24)

Based on Christ's own words, we have established that to be a follower of the REAL Jesus one must obey His teaching. What specifically is his teaching? Jesus taught that the laws of Moses should be obeyed. He criticized the Pharisees for placing their traditions over Moses' teaching (Mark 7:10-13). Yet if that was all he taught, what was the point of His coming? There is much more to Christ's teaching than the law of Moses.

Jesus had the audacity to add an eleventh commandment to the ten established by Moses - that his followers love one another deeply. This deep love was to be their trademark -  a signature and seal by which every true Christian could be recognized. Jesus taught that love for God and one's neighbor was the purpose, goal and substance of the law of Moses and all the prophets. According to Christ, were one to try to keep the law and yet not have love, compassion and kindness within, one would be serving God only in pretense and missing the point of the law of Moses:

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35)

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12)

"Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40) 

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:17-20)

Notice the last phrase in the verse listed above - "unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven". What did Jesus mean by this? The Pharisees devoted their lives to obeying God's laws, if anyone possessed "righteousness" it was them. Here Jesus makes a distinction. His true followers must obey not only the law of Moses established in God's ten commandments, but distinct commandments that only Christ himself put into place. The true follower of Christ MUST obey these specific JESUS commandments, else according to Christ they neither love nor follow him. What are these commandments?

The Commandments of Christ

1. Love others as Christ loved us. (John 13:34-35)
2. Do unto others as we would have them do unto us. (Matthew 7:12)
3. Love God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-40)
4. Forgive others without condition or limitation. (Matthew 6:14-15) (Matthew 18:21-35)
5. Do not call your fellow man "worthless". Value every living person. (Matthew 5:22)
6. Feed the hungry. (Matthew 25:35) (Matthew 25:31-46)
7. Give drink to the thirsty. (Matthew 25:35) (Matthew 25:31-46)
8. Clothe the naked. (Matthew 25:36) (Matthew 25:31-46)
9. Visit those in prison. (Matthew 25:36) (Matthew 25:31-46)
10. Visit the sick. (Matthew 25:36) (Matthew 25:31-46)
11. Invite the poor to your feasts, not the rich. (Luke 14:13-14)
12. Live free from greed and do not worship money. (Matthew 6:24-26)
13. Do not store wealth up for yourself. (Matthew 6:19-21)
14. Invest in heaven by giving, do not hoard things on the earth. (Luke 12:16-21)
15. Loyalty and communion with God is better than great wealth. (Matthew 6:33-34)
16. If someone asks you to walk a mile, walk two. Be diligent. (Matthew 5:41)
17. Believe that the power of God can change anyone, no matter what they may
     have done in the past. Believe in God's forgiveness. (Luke 6:37) (Matthew 7:1)
18. Do not seek positions of power over others. Rather seek opportunities for
     service to others. (John 13:3-17) (Matthew 20:25-28) (Luke 22:25-27)
19. Walk humbly. Do not exalt yourself. (Matthew 23:12) (Luke 14:11) (Luke 18:14)
20. Revere and love children. (Matthew 18:3-6)
21. Acknowledge and confess Jesus before others, not just with words but with
     deeds of kindness and love. Do not confess him with your lips yet deny him by
     your actions. In so doing you will disown him and he will disown you before his
     father. (Matthew 10:32)
22. Love your enemies. (Matthew 5:44-48) (Luke 6:27)
23. Bless those who curse you. (Luke 6:28)
24. Pray for those who spitefully use you and take advantage of you. (Luke 6:28)
25. When someone attacks you, do not return their aggression. Respond with good
      for evil and kindness for hatred. Offer them forgiveness in response to
      their bitterness. (Luke 6:29-31)
26. When you give, keep it a secret. Don't glorify yourself. (Matthew 6:2-4)
27. When you fast, keep it a secret. Don't glorify yourself. (Matthew 6:16-18)
28. When you pray, keep it a secret. Don't glorify yourself. (Matthew 6:5-8)
29. Do NOT do things to be seen of men. Do not put on an act of righteousness
     when people are watching you. Be humble. Don't glorify yourself or constantly
     draw attention to yourself. Draw attention to God. (Matthew 6:1)
30. Be meek. Be gentle. Don't force yourself on others. Listen to and respect others.
      When you are in a position of power, practice restraint. (Matthew 5:5)
31. Do not seek the flattery of men. Do not seek praise from men. Avoid these
     things. These will be used to inflate your ego and manipulate your pride. When
     people speak evil against you falsely and bear false witness, know that you are
     doing well. When everyone is complimenting you and praising you with empty
     flattery, beware - you may have been led astray. (Matthew 5:11-12) (Luke 6:26)

The presence of these characteristics in someone's life will make them known as a follower of the REAL Jesus. Likewise, the lack of these attributes in one's life will reveal that that specific person is not a true follower or believer at all. For many Christ remains an unfollowed Messiah. They identify as "Christian" and affiliate with institutions and organizations that attach themselves to Jesus' name, yet they themselves have never taken the plunge into the depths of Christ's afflictions or shared in the sorrow of his suffering. Therefore, they do not walk in the joy of abandoning themselves to his service and his love.

If you feel there's something missing in your life, consider these things. Maybe there is a thirst for meaning and purpose that nothing you experiment with seems to quench. Maybe you are unhappy with the emptiness of organized religious institutions and the hypocrisy you see. But remember - the presence of counterfeits does not abolish the possibility that there exists something real and tangible for which you are seeking.

Take note that Jesus' commandments are too radical and volatile to follow without an equally radical transformation. Jesus taught that this kind of life, like that of the mythical Phoenix, demands nothing less than death and rebirth. He told Nicodemus that his followers must be "born again" - not of flesh but of spirit. In so doing this one becomes like the wind, whose sound one may hear, but it remains elusive - unseen from where it comes and invisible to where it is going. (John 3:3-8).

It begins with a little faith, if only as much as a tiny mustard seed - that is enough to begin to pray. If you confess your faults before God and are reborn, his spirit will live within you and empower you to exhibit the signs of a true believer. You may then make a commitment to live your live by Jesus' commandments and teachings as listed above. Then they will know who you follow by your love, as Jesus indicated so long ago, and in your life the unfollowed Jesus will become the followed one.