What is a Jesus Follower?
Did you ever have one of those moments where you just think, “Duh. Maybe I should make sure people know what I’m talking about”?
Recently I was invited by Dr. Ed Slover to be on his wonderful podcast, It’s Not My Credit to Take. I highly recommend his podcast, feel free to watch or listen to the interview he and I did together, or any of the other episodes with inspirational men of God. During the podcast Ed asked about the difference between a Christian and a Jesus follower. I answered the question, we had a short discussion, and then Ed moved us to other topics. But thinking back later, I realized that I’ve never addressed the question, “What is a Jesus Follower?” in a blog post. I did a video on it about a year ago but wanted to share it in this form so that more people might get a chance to understand what it means to follow Jesus.
The First Step
The first step for anyone to become a Jesus follower is simple…but it’s the one step that changes everything for you. The first step is to be saved from Hell and put on the path to Heaven. How then do we take this most monumental step that changes our eternal destiny? Here are the words of Jesus.
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
-John 11:25-26 ESV
The ONLY thing you have to do is believe in Jesus as the Son of God for salvation. A couple of quick things here.
“I AM” is a direct reference to being One with God the Father. This means that Jesus is telling us that He is God. So, believing in Jesus is believing in God. Now, that word “believe” does not just mean that we recognize He exists. Even the demons know that Jesus is the Holy One of God. In the Greek, the word for believe here is “pisteuōn”. According to Strong’s Definitions, it means:
“to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust (especially one's spiritual well-being to Christ):—believe(-r), commit (to trust), put in trust with.”
Did you see that? Believe, commit, trust, have faith in, to entrust “especially one’s spiritual well-being to Christ.” When Jesus says, “Whoever believes in Me” He means whoever receives forgiveness of sins from Jesus and trusts Him for their spiritual well-being. And who better to trust with your spiritual well-being than the One who created you and loves you eternally?
The first step in becoming a Jesus follower then is to trust Jesus for your salvation.
The Only Other Step
We covered the first step. How about the next step, and the step after that, and the step after that, ad infinitum? I have good news. There is only one other step. Ready for it? Here ya go.
Obey the Commands of Jesus.
By the way, that’s the main difference between many most modern Christians and true Jesus followers. In today’s society there are a lot of people who, when asked, would say they are Christians, even though they are not obeying the commands of Jesus. Many claim being Christian because their parents were Christians, or because they attend church every once in a while. Some perhaps call themselves Christians because they don’t want to be known as someone who isn’t Christian. Can I be totally honest here? Most of the people who claim to be Christians but aren’t truly following Jesus are very sincere. They fully believe they are Christians and going to Heaven…because society, and many churches, have redefined the term, “Christian”.
One of the greatest challenges to evangelism is getting past people’s false belief about what it means to be a Christian. These are the reasons why, sisters and brothers, many of us favor the term “Jesus follower” over the term Christian. Not that we disparage the label “Christian”. I am a Christian. Every sincere Jesus follower is a true Christian. But we differentiate ourselves who are learning and growing, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to be ever more obedient to the commands of Jesus.
A Few Final Thoughts
Now, you may ask, which commands of Jesus am I required to follow? So I don’t risk repeating myself too much, I addressed that question in our blog post, “If I Don't Follow Every Command of Jesus, Will I Go to Hell?” Also, if you’re worried about a bunch of rules from God, let me allay your fears with our post, “Why Does God Make People Follow a Bunch of Rules?”
The truth is this. Jesus followers don’t obey Jesus because of rules, requirements, or even the fear of Hell. We obey Jesus because we love Him. Do you remember what Jesus said in reference to the greatest commandment? In summary, we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. But why do we love?
“We love, because he first loved us.”
-1 John 4:19 ESV
The hallmark of the Jesus follower is love. We love like Jesus. We are kind like Jesus. We go where Jesus leads. We draw closer to Jesus, no matter how we feel. And we are obedient to Jesus, even if all the world opposes us.
If you have follow-up thoughts, feel free to reach out to me directly via our contact form. Also, if you’d like to learn more about me and why I create all this content about following Jesus, check out my About page. If you love the content and would like to support this work, please visit Troy Stoneking (buymeacoffee.com). Finally, would you like to see a list of ALL our blog posts? Here it is!
Love you Jesus follower!