Who are we following?

[hupo]

A friend of mine told me about one of the topics on a seminar she attended, that was most interesting and touching...

The seminar leader mentioned something to the effect of "Many believers are trying to be like other believers rather than be like Yeshua"

Do you find this to be true in your community/church?

For me it is definatly something to pray about.....

Haven't been around for a while so I hope you don't mind me jumping right in.

Blessings

[Marnie]

That's an interesting statement. I think that young, immature believers will often "follow" older, more mature believers. I think that this is natural and to be expected, and not necessarily wrong. Paul said this:

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Cor. 11:1).

But once we grow and mature, I think we need to get our eyes firmly and permanently focused on Christ.

[hupo]

That's an interesting statement. I think that young, immature believers will often "follow" older, more mature believers. I think that this is natural and to be expected, and not necessarily wrong. Paul said this:

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Cor. 11:1).

But once we grow and mature, I think we need to get our eyes firmly and permanently focused on Christ.

Following Paul may be a good thing. Following some mature believers could be too.

But how would a young believer know?

There is a thin line that can be crossed quite easily..... too easily.....

I thought this statement would be worth checking out

Blessings

[dakota190]

hupo,

here is a thought that occured to me. as a young believer there were a few older or more mature believers in the church i attended. i would possibly choose to emulate them in their walk with the Lord, as i perceived their walk to be. the problem became that as i got older and realized these men had feet of clay and they did not walk as i thought they should have. (not that anyone could have) i lost faith in them and the church. i came to consider them both to be frauds. and i left.

what only now occurs to me is that as a young believer i didn't know how to walk with the Lord and no one ever told me that information could be found in the bible if i would only study it. although i did not know how to walk the walk, i had an opinion about how the church leaders should conduct themselves. as well as some of the older folks that i considered to be just a little too selfrightous. what a pompous jerk!

today i realize as i get older and i hope i am growing more mature in my walk with the Lord. we all have feet of clay. none of us can walk the walk satisfactorily. that is why Jesus came to give his life for us on the cross. we have mercy from the Lord. now if we could only have mercy from each other. we could stop trying to hold everyone else to an image that does not exist and a standard that we ourselves cannot achieve. at which point we could perhaps be more helpful to one another in our daily walks.

we should emulate Jesus as close as we possibly can. you can even try to emulate Paul if you wish. but please do the older members of the faith and yourselves a favor and don't put anyone on a pedestal and make them responsible for living up to an image that they don't even know exists, and cannot attain to. it could be a stumbling block for the both of you.

(i am using "you" in a generic way and it is not aimed at anyone in particular)

[Marnie]

That's an interesting statement. I think that young, immature believers will often "follow" older, more mature believers. I think that this is natural and to be expected, and not necessarily wrong. Paul said this:

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Cor. 11:1).

But once we grow and mature, I think we need to get our eyes firmly and permanently focused on Christ.

Following Paul may be a good thing. Following some mature believers could be too.

But how would a young believer know?

There is a thin line that can be crossed quite easily..... too easily.....

I thought this statement would be worth checking out

Blessings

Where I come from, we call it "discipleship." Sadly, a technique lost in most churches today. Which explains the sorry state of some believers.

[Marnie]

Where I come from, we call it "discipleship." Sadly, a technique lost in most churches today. Which explains the sorry state of some believers.

Sadly very true. Instead of tending to believers like sheep, they are branded like cattle. (this is not in every place, but it is a true statment.)

Yeah, and treated like cattle...herded here and there, told what to do and how to do it with no teaching. What do you get? Mindless automatons who think they are serving G-d but in reality merely going through the motions.

[Guest lnj]

Because I have been discouraged by fellow Believers, I now focus on Jesus as my sole role model.

Sure we have met Christians whom we admire but I don't lose sight of who I want to BE LIKE.

[Guest]

Because I have been discouraged by fellow Believers, I now focus on Jesus as my sole role model.

..... the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart .....

1 Samuel 13:14

[hupo]

hupo,

here is a thought that occured to me. as a young believer there were a few older or more mature believers in the church i attended. i would possibly choose to emulate them in their walk with the Lord, as i perceived their walk to be. the problem became that as i got older and realized these men had feet of clay and they did not walk as i thought they should have. (not that anyone could have) i lost faith in them and the church. i came to consider them both to be frauds. and i left.

what only now occurs to me is that as a young believer i didn't know how to walk with the Lord and no one ever told me that information could be found in the bible if i would only study it. although i did not know how to walk the walk, i had an opinion about how the church leaders should conduct themselves. as well as some of the older folks that i considered to be just a little too selfrightous. what a pompous jerk!

today i realize as i get older and i hope i am growing more mature in my walk with the Lord. we all have feet of clay. none of us can walk the walk satisfactorily. that is why Jesus came to give his life for us on the cross. we have mercy from the Lord. now if we could only have mercy from each other. we could stop trying to hold everyone else to an image that does not exist and a standard that we ourselves cannot achieve. at which point we could perhaps be more helpful to one another in our daily walks.

we should emulate Jesus as close as we possibly can. you can even try to emulate Paul if you wish. but please do the older members of the faith and yourselves a favor and don't put anyone on a pedestal and make them responsible for living up to an image that they don't even know exists, and cannot attain to. it could be a stumbling block for the both of you.

(i am using "you" in a generic way and it is not aimed at anyone in particular)

I like the way you think brother

It is sad that we all have feet of clay as you call it, but then, we are told in scripture that this is our state of faith until we let the Spirit guide us.

I guess discernment would be the attribute we need. That, of course, is not something we can attain in our own power.

As for being a pompous jerk.... I know what you mean. At some stage of my life I was sure that God exists because I created Him............talk about arrogance!

I think if we are aware of this particular stumbling block, we have a chance of not stumbling over it.

Again, for this we need the Holy Spirit's guidance

Blessings

[hupo]

Where I come from, we call it "discipleship." Sadly, a technique lost in most churches today. Which explains the sorry state of some believers.

Sadly very true. Instead of tending to believers like sheep, they are branded like cattle. (this is not in every place, but it is a true statment.)

Yeah, and treated like cattle...herded here and there, told what to do and how to do it with no teaching. What do you get? Mindless automatons who think they are serving G-d but in reality merely going through the motions.

Can I suggest we use "we" rather than "they"?

As faulty as some believers might be, we are just like them and have our faults and weaknesses. We need to encourage one another not condemn.

I'm not saying anyone is condemning anyone else, but even the mere hint of it should be discouraged....IMHO

Blessings to all brothers and sisters