Patrick Johnson: Follow Me

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“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Matthew 4:19

“When Jesus called the disciples, He said just two words. “Follow me.” And they did. This was His style of leadership development and discipleship.

The disciples took a very long walk with Jesus, following Him as He intersected spiritual brokenness, religious self-righteousness, and physical pain with the grace of the gospel. They watched their world set on fire with the intensity of His life…

What if fostering generosity at your church could be set on fire by a singular “Follow Me” focus by the church leadership? Releasing generous disciples via bold leadership accomplishes three important things.

1. It frees people to experience the abundant life of Jesus. So many are trapped by the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of riches. Generosity breaks the power of money.

2. The body of Christ grows best in community. Fostering a community culture of generosity will be a powerful growth-agent in your local body.

3. Overflowing generosity speaks gospel to a hurting world. People can argue with your beliefs, but they cannot argue with generous acts done in love.”

Patrick Johnson in his GenerousChurch blog post entitled “What Just Happened?” – Initiating Paradigm-Shifting Discipleship.”

When I got the email about this blog post this week I saved it for weekend reading. I really resonated with it because of some writing I am doing on another book project about the importance of following.

I find that what hinders us from grasping life in God’s economy is that we overthink it. We try to figure it out before we live it out, when in reality, we chart the opposite course.

We only figure it out when we follow in faith and obedience. For example, until we give generously and sacrificially, do we realize Jesus is not calling us to a life of destitution but rather distribution.

That said, if you want to adopt such a “Follow Me” strategy in your church, perhaps check out the GenerousChurch resources and adopt the language of Paul as your theme verse.

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

When we actually start following, Jesus does rock our world. His intensity fuels our tenacity. We are released and unleashed as contagious, generous and loving servants.