Here’s what being a follower of Jesus Christ does not mean: It does not mean your choosing a celebrity gospelizer whose long-running engagement is so profitable that he erected his own theater of entertainment expressly so that you can sit passively in his audience and watch his show.
It does not mean that you are regaled occasionally with Bible stories about people other than yourself doing their moral and ethical duty. It does not mean crowd therapy or buying products.
It does not mean cohabitation, multiple marriages, abortion, dumping human remains over dirt, television glamour, absolving your own sins, and no-showing on the Lord’s Day.
So what does being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ really mean? For starters, it means a Church whose pastor, taking the last place, leads his congregation to Christ so that Christ can lead them to the Father.
It means your living all TEN Commandments consciously and enthusiastically. It means that you remain chaste and celibate until you exchange your marriage vows at the altar of the Church.
It means that you would rather perish than betray your spouse by adultery. It means that you reverence all who die in the peace of Christ, that you will arrange for them to receive a proper religious funeral service in the Church and burial in consecrated ground.
It means your being humane, that you respect the lives and dignity of all human beings from the unborn to the natural end of life. It means your being reconciled with God and neighbor at all times and making this the very heart of your worship in the Church and your life in the world.
Being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ means that your food is doing will of the Father who sent Jesus and to accomplish his work. This means then, that a faithful follower of Christ will do these things and more:
Feed the hungry. Give a cup of cold water to the thirsty. Shelter the homeless. Clothe the naked. Visit the sick. Visit the imprisoned. Bury the dead reverently in consecrated ground.
More? Yes, there is more. You will: Correct the sinner. Instruct those who are ignorant of Christ. Counsel those whose faith is weak. Comfort the sorrowing. Bear wrongs patiently. Forgive all injuries. Pray for the living and the dead.
Go out into the world to do these things and live a holy way of life. Take up your own cross and follow the God-Man who carried his. Be worthy of him.
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