Follow Directions
By Grant Gaines
Breaking news: men don’t like following directions.
I’m sure that’s not breaking news to anyone reading this because it is a commonly understood notion that men don’t like to follow directions. I’m not sure if it is some unwritten rule that every guy just knows to follow or if it is simply just the way God made us. Regardless of the reason, seemingly every guy that you run into will be allergic to following directions in an instruction manual and would prefer to simply navigate based on his instincts.
I know it really doesn’t make sense, but there is a GIANT sense of accomplishment that you feel when you put something together or get to a certain location on your own. That being said, we probably waste quite a bit of time trying to figure out something that is already clearly written out for us. A Christmas gift that could have easily been put together in 30 minutes with instructions can take up to 3 hours when operating on sheer instinct rather than instruction.
Sure, we may be satisfied with our work, but that satisfaction comes with the hefty price of time, frustration, and a countless number of “mulligans.” This anger and frustration arises all because we chose not to follow the directions that were plainly laid out in front of us.
I believe we all do this to an extent when following Christ. Rather than following the clear example that He set for us in the Bible, we want to blaze our own path and come up with our own ideas as to how Jesus would respond to certain situations.
The problem with this do-it-yourself philosophy when it comes to Christianity is that unlike putting together a Christmas gift, precious souls are at stake, not seconds and minutes. You see, if we fail at putting together a Christmas gift, we can simply try, try, and try again until we get it right. However, if we fail at following in the footsteps of Christ in today’s lost, dark, and dying world, some of our most beloved co-workers, family members, and friends might perish without the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What I’m trying to get at is this: the Bible is very black and white while the world we live in is grey. The Bible doesn’t specifically say how to respond when a nation legalizes same-sex marriage in all 50 states, but it does tell us how to follow in Christ’s footsteps. The Bible doesn’t specifically address how to respond when a nation’s House of Representatives and Congress are in direct conflict with each other at all times, but it does tell us how to follow in the footsteps of Christ. And the Bible doesn’t specifically tell us how to respond to an abortion epidemic that is more prevalent than the Holocaust, but it does tell us how to follow in the footsteps of Christ.
1 Peter 1:21 (NIV), “…Christ left you and example that you should follow in His steps.”
You see, Jesus did leave us an example as to how we should live in every single situation. And the beautiful thing is that we don’t have to flip back and forth throughout the Bible to find this example that Christ set because the very next two verses tell us, “[Jesus] committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth. When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:22-23, NIV).
1 Peter 2:21 commands us to follow in Christ’s footsteps and then the next two verses tell us how to do that-we guard our tongues. If you look back at those verses one more time you will notice that on three separate occasions we are informed that Christ guarded His tongue when difficulties arose (no deceit in His mouth…did not retaliate…made no threat).
The way we follow in Christ’s footsteps is first and foremost by loving others and Jesus has loved us (John 13:34-35) particularly when they don’t deserve it because that is exactly how Jesus loved us (Romans 5:8). But also, following in the footsteps of Christ requires us to speak redemptively. What I mean by that is that rather than tearing into people for every little thing they do wrong, we choose to instead encourage people with what they are doing right all while pointing them in the right direction by the way we live. Instead of always feeling the need to defend yourself against your accusers, you allow your good works to do the talking and to follow the advice of 1 Peter 2:15 (NIV) by, “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.”
The easy and practical way we follow in the footsteps of Christ is by watching our words as we communicate with others.
Has your communication over the last week been worthy of the Gospel of Christ?
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
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©Grant Gaines 2013
