“Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7, NRSV)
Well, Twitter, thanks for re-activating the language of “following” people. Love it (millions) or hate it (me), Twitter has energized the notion of “followership.”
John Chandler
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Perhaps in concert with that, there is a daunting pair of questions that we are hearing more frequently:
• Who are you following?
• Who is following you?
The first names those who lead us, past or present. It’s clarifying when we become aware of who makes up our “invisible audience.” We are more intentional leaders when we identify the ones we want to please. It’s never a bad idea to do an internal audit on whom you are following — or should be.
But I am more taken with the second question. I’d suggest an exercise: Take three minutes to write down answers to the question, “Who is following me?”
Who comes to mind? How many names? Anyone?
A glorious trend is leaders who humbly but clearly say, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” Mike Breen brilliantly notes that a great Western fallacy is that someone can pass from information to innovation without first passing through imitation.
Spot on! No one is transformed merely by ideas and information. We need to see life embodied, incarnated, modeled and demonstrated in flesh and blood by a person who is far enough ahead of us to merit following, yet close enough to be accessible.
It is a fearsome thing to invite another person to imitate you. As a leader, you are as corrupted by sin and in need of grace as anyone else, and to say, “Imitate me” can sound arrogant. To say it certainly makes us more accountable.
But disciples are made through imitation. I thank God for those I imitate in following Jesus: Mike Breen’s mentoring, Dallas Willard’s holiness, John Upton’s vision, Laura McDaniel’s generosity, Roland Chandler’s readiness to forgive.
Who are you imitating? Who is imitating you?
Trending is written by John Chandler, leader of the Spence Network, www.spencenetwork. org./equip.htm. Coming next: Five-fold ministry.