Is it Better to Lead or Follow? [46]

Host: TJ Freeman

Summary: In this episode of Back to Rurality, TJ Freeman explores leading and following, with a humorous and insightful touch on rural life. Drawing from Ephesians chapter 2 and Psalm 23, he emphasizes that Christians are called to follow Jesus, leaving behind the destructive influences of the world, the devil, and the flesh. He highlights the ongoing role of followers of Jesus in their communities, encouraging listeners to point others to Christ through their actions and words. TJ also shares a personal anecdote about a recent family road trip, explaining a short hiatus from the podcast.

Connect with Us:

• Website: backtorurality.com
• Social Media: Facebook
• Email: tj@brainerdinstitute.com

Transcript

TJ: Are you a leader or are you a follower? That's an interesting question. It's one you may have struggled with at times. You feel like, well, I really want to lead well, but I'm not sure how to do it. Or you may go, I'm supposed to be following, but I'm not a very good follower. Well, what does the Bible say about leading and following, and how does that impact your life as a Christian who lives in a place most of the world thinks of as the middle of nowhere?

I'm glad you asked. Stay tuned to this episode. That's what we're talking about.

Thank you for joining us for another edition of Back to Rurality. I'm so glad to be here with you. My name is TJ Freeman and I am a rural pastor, which means that yes, just like you. I live in the middle of nowhere, and that is an affectionate term.

I take a lot of heat when I talk about the place I live is the middle of nowhere. But I call it that on purpose because that's how most of the world thinks of it. And if we're not careful, it's subconsciously we're gonna think of it like that too. I agree. It's the middle of somewhere very important according to the Lord and according to most of the people who live there.

But I'm just being honest to say sometimes, like when I'm hungry for Chick-fil-A, I'm very aware of the fact that I live in the middle of nowhere. It's a good thing, something I've really come to love. I hope that you've come to love it as well. Now, as you're out there in the middle of nowhere, living in your little rural community, you have to deal with the topic of leadership.

There are times that you are called to lead and there are times you are called to follow. And if you're like me, you've done both of those poorly. From time to time. That's just part of being a human. Now, here's what I wanna point out to you though, from the book of Ephesians, is that we are all followers.

Check this out, Ephesians chapter two, and I'm gonna start reading in right in verse one. So you, if you want to, you could get out a copy of the Bible and you could follow along. And if you're driving, I don't recommend you do that right now unless you really wanna meet Jesus. Ephesians chapter two.

Starting in verse one says, you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following. Boom, there's our word. What were you following? The course of this world following, there's our word again. The Prince of the Power of the air. You know who that is? Text goes on to say, it's the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

Here's the, uh, reader's Digest version. That's the devil. Verse three, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and we, by nature, children of wrath like the rest of mankind. So there's really three things in the text you're following, you're following the course of the world, you're following the prince of the power of the air.

You're following the passions of your flesh. These are all not good things to follow. When you look out at the world and you see the direction that the world is taking, is that really something you wanna follow? Do you want to have the discontent and the confusion and the chaos and the animosity and the self-centeredness that the world is following on your resume?

Do you want your life to look like that? Me either. Well, how about the next one, following the devil. Who here wants to sign up to follow the devil? None of us. That sounds terrible. The devil's end is really bad. Hell was made as God's way of punishing the devil for all eternity, you wanna follow him?

That's where he's taken you. And along the way, there's a war path of hatred and destruction and confusion and chaos, just like the world, which by the way, why do you think the world is like it is? Because the prince of the power of the air rules it. And then your passions of your flesh. Talk about a dumb thing to follow.

Man, I cannot go by. A homemade ice cream shop without stopping. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to do that. You know, you, you go by and the the sign says homemade ice cream. If you don't turn in there and you get caught, you can be ticketed for that. That's a jailable offense. Homemade ice cream is just the absolute best, and I, because of the passions of my flesh cannot get by there.

Now, I am on a weight loss plan. Mm-hmm. Yep. And at the end of the summer, if I don't meet a certain goal, I have to do a consequence that I don't want to do. We all had to pick one and mine. You're gonna think I'm silly for this, but Well, it's, it's real. If I don't meet my weight loss goal, I have to eat a tablespoon.

Ketchup. Ugh. Just the thought of saying that out loud almost makes me gag. I can't imagine doing it. I don't eat ketchup. I don't like ketchup. I've not liked ketchup since I was a little kid. It just repulses me. They should relabel it devil's blood because that's what it really is. It's gross. And if I don't make my weight loss goal, I gotta eat that.

Now, knowing that full well. Genuinely not wanting to eat the ketchup. I still cannot make myself go buy a homemade ice cream shop without stopping because that creamy deliciousness is worth it. So says the passions of my flesh. Multiply that and focus it on all kinds of other things that the flesh desires and you're gonna wind up in big, big trouble.

Just being overweight would be the least of your problems. Following the passions of your flesh. Leads people into really bad places when you're angry and you have that flash of anger. What could happen if you were unrestrained? Think through all the other kind of vices that could come if you don't live according to some restraint when it comes to your flesh, you don't wanna be a follower of that.

You don't wanna follow the world. You don't wanna follow the devil. You don't wanna follow the passions of your flesh, but our dear friend, the Apostle Paul, tells us that at some point in our lives, that's exactly what we were all doing. We were following those things, and if the Lord would not have intervened, that's what we would still be doing, which is why we get to this verse four in our text.

But God, who is rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins made us alive together with Christ. By Grace, you have been saved. That's amazing. God interrupts our following and he says, you know what? You're not gonna follow the world, the flesh or the devil anymore because Jesus has intervened in your life.

But here's the deal. You don't stop being a follower when Jesus intervenes and saves you. You were following bad stuff. What Jesus does is liberates you from that prison so that you can follow something better. So that you can follow after him. Christians are not just cleaned up moral people. They are followers of Jesus.

And if we want to follow after Jesus, he's said, we need to deny ourselves, take up a cross and follow after him. So let the first part of this episode be an encouragement for you to be a better follower. Christ, and I'm not saying like, Hey, you know, Jesus is gonna be way happier with you if you become a better follower, your life's gonna get better.

What I'm just simply saying is. You have been bought through the blood of Christ into a new family, the people of God, and it is your great joy and privilege to follow after him more and more faithfully. That should happen the whole course of your life, so don't shrink back when you hear somebody say things about being a better Christian.

What we mean by that is simply, I want to live more for the glory of God. I want to love him more. Obey what he said in his word more because I love him, not 'cause I'm trying to earn my salvation. The text here even talks about that we are not saved by our good works, lest we would boast about them, but we're saved by the grace of God through faith so that we can be followers of him.

I have a point with this. Okay. I'm going, now, to Psalm 23. It is a psalm about following the leader, and it's about following the Lord in two times in the text really well, three, three times in view. The first is following the Lord as he takes you to green pastures and lead you beside still waters, so you're kind of out in the field.

It's a pleasant time. Then there's the time where the Lord leads you through the valley of the shadow of death and through the presence of your enemies. And what does he do for you there? And then there's the time that the Lord's goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life and forever.

We're talking about now eternity three times in view. So as you follow the Lord in these times, you're following his leadership as he makes sure you're well-nourished and cared for, that you have the kind of peace that passes all understanding that the fruit of his spirit is growing in you, so that you actually are living in joy.

And peace and all of those things. Then there's the time where you walk through the hard times. Valley of the shadow of death, and in the presence of your enemies. In Psalm 23, as the sheep, David, follows behind the shepherd, his Lord. David says, I'm not gonna fear any evil, even though I'm in a really dark, horrible place.

Not gonna fear evil. Why? Because you're with me. He says to the shepherd, so as you're following the Lord, know that the Lord is actually with you. And then he says, you're Rod and your staff, they comfort me. So these two tools that the shepherd would use, one to defend the sheep, another to kind of goad the sheep and pull the sheep along, in love, on the right path.

Those are the ways the shepherd. Leads us. He protects us and he guides us along, and that's a source of comfort for David and it should be for you as well. And then the goodness and mercy of the Lord are going after you all the days of your life and all eternity. If you've been bought by this good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep, you are part of that flock, and it is a joy to follow after him, but also a great responsibility.

You didn't wander into that flock. You didn't pick that flock. Jesus and his kindness died to win you into it. So how much more should you wanna follow? Faithfully after the Lord. Now, in your community or in your church or in your family, whatever, you may have leadership roles as well. And you should understand that all of the leadership you exercised is borrowed leadership.

And it might be in a secular job, it might be in a civic organization. Still it's borrowed leadership, because you are under the authority of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and as you care for or lead. Sometimes even have to correct and guide people under your care. You're not going to do it faithfully if you're not doing it as unto the Lord.

So just think about that the next time you go to the Lions Club or to the school board, or to your kid's soccer game, and you're thinking about the way that. You're volunteering or you're serving in a leadership role of any capacity, do that as somebody who's following the Good Shepherd and use every opportunity you possibly can to point them to him.

Here's why this matters in your small town. God has you there in that place to show off his glory and as you submit to him and you find joy and hope, and peace and love in him, not your flesh, not the world, not whatever the devil's got going on, but in Christ your demonstrating an alternative path. It's a narrow one.

Few will find it. But you are showing people to it. More than that, you have the opportunity in those moments to actually point people to Jesus with your words. So not just your lifestyle, but also your words. Take advantage of those opportunities. You may be the only Christian on that team, in that classroom, in that boardroom, at that meeting, in that.

Whatever business, at that restaurant, and you have a following and a leading role in following Jesus and leading other people to him. No matter where you go. Christ put you in your little town to do that. Isn't that amazing? So whether you're a leader or follower in your day to day life. You are a leader and a follower in your spiritual life, which can't be separated from the rest of your life.

So think about that this week as you go out and live for his glory. Guess what I owe you. I do owe you something. It's a little apology. I took a little break. It was not a planned break from the podcast, and I know you're biting your nails. When's the next Back to Rurality coming out? Okay. Maybe not. But I felt really bad that I wasn't getting the episodes out.

I had a sweet opportunity to travel. We put 7,500 miles on the minivan. That means I had to have two oil changes and a tire rotation on the trip. So that's with four kids in the back ages eight to 14. And, that's six different bladders we had going down the road. That's six different interests and thoughts going down the road.

And here we all go together, 7,500 miles and it was a really, really sweet trip. We had a great time. I had some ministry to do in Iowa and ministry connections in Minnesota. Places to look at in the panhandle of Florida that need an increase in healthy churches and it was just a really good time and a family reunion squeezed into all the middle of it.

So sorry about the break. I did not mean to keep you waiting, but we are back and I'm happy to get this episode out. Hope it's been a blessing. If we can serve you in any way, head over to brainerdinstitute.com. We'd love to get connected and share other resources there. God bless you, and we'll see you next time.

For now, let's get back to life. Back to rurality.