Follow The Leader

“And He said to them, “Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].” Matthew 4:19–20 (AMP)
When we were growing up our parents would always tell us “be a leader not a follower”. Of course they were advising that we not follow the crowd or do wrong just because others are doing it but instead be an example of doing good. I totally agree with this. But because of this, the word “follower” has a very negative connotation. Nobody wants to be a follower. We don’t want to follow anyone instead we’d rather be followed. We all want to be leaders and take charge and there’s nothing wrong with that! But believe it or not, part of being a great leader is being a great follower. Even the greatest individuals in scriptures had to start out following someone before they gained a following. An Old Testament example of this is Joshua who followed Moses before others followed him. In the New Testament Peter followed Jesus then he became the rock of the church. Everybody in leadership starts out following before they start leading. You start out following before you start leading. How you follow determines how you’re going to be able to lead. You have to follow the leader to become a leader. Following gives you the training and preparation needed to be great. Following your leader is a test for leading people! You must be able to take orders before you try to give orders. If you can’t be taught, you can’t teach others. If you can’t be led, you can’t lead others. If you can’t be corrected, you can’t correct others. If you can’t be guided, you can’t guide others. If you can’t follow, you can’t be followed. It’s that simple. How can you be a great leader if you aren’t a great follower? You can’t! Followship is necessary for leadership. In the opening scripture Jesus tells Peter and his brother Andrew to follow Him and He will make them fishers of men. In other words, “FOLLOW” Me then I will have you “LEAD” people to God. Follow first, then lead. When He told them that they immediately dropped their nets and followed Him. How can we be a great follower? How do we follow the people that God has placed over us? What are some ways we can follow the leader?
How To Be A Great Follower…
- BE SUBMISSIVE
“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.” Hebrews 13:17 (NIV)
We need to submit to our leaders. Whoever is leading you… submit to them. Submit means to accept or yield to a superior force or to the authority or will of another person. Submit: Accept and Respect! Be obedient to your leader. Stop being rebellious all the time and respect those in position of authority. Submit to your leaders and do as they say or will. The disciples were obedient to Jesus. Even though at times they questioned Him they submitted to His authority as their leader. You need to submit to authority. It takes discipline and self-control to submit to authority. For example Jesus, “the leader” of the 12 disciples was talking to them in Matthew 16:21–23. He was telling them that He had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, then on the third day rise to life but Peter didn’t like what Jesus had to say. Peter wasn’t on board with this assignment. Peter spoke up to rebuke Jesus saying “Never, Lord!” “This shall never happen to you!” But Jesus turned to Peter and said “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns”. Even though Peter didn’t want Jesus to go to Jerusalem we all know the story… He went. Peter had to submit to Jesus even though he didn’t like Jesus’ commands. Understand that the boss is in charge whether we like it or not. We have to submit to the leaders God has placed in our lives even when we don’t like or understand what they want or are doing. We have to trust that they are getting their instructions from God. Have confidence in your leader. Do you have trust in the person that God sent to lead you? We have to operate in self control to submit to man. It takes humility to submit because prideful people won’t.
2. BE WILLING
When Jesus told Peter and Andrew to follow Him they dropped their nets and followed Him immediately. This shows that they were willing to follow someone that they really didn’t know much about. You have to be willing. Be willing to follow and be willing to be used by your leaders. Matthew 14 talks about Jesus walking on the water. The disciples thought it was a ghost but Jesus said “Don’t be afraid it is I”. But Peter was willing to get out of the boat to see if it was really Jesus. All of the disciples thought it was a ghost but Peter was the only one who got out of the boat. You have to be willing to get out of your boat to help your leader. Peter got out of the boat to prove that it was Jesus! Are you willing? Be willing to help your leader.
3. BE TEACHABLE
One of my favorite scriptures is Luke 5 when Jesus tells Peter to launch into the deep and let his nets down for a catch. Peter explains that he had been toiling all night and caught no fish but nevertheless at Jesus’ Word he would let down the net. I love it! Peter had a teachable spirit. He obeyed Jesus, a non-fishermen to be able to do his job. Peter knew that if you’ve been fishing all night there is no way that you’re going to catch any fishes. Peter was a fishermen (Jesus wasn’t) but he allowed Jesus to teach him something. Since he allowed Jesus to teach him he was blessed! He received a great multitude of fish that his net broke and he had to call his partners to help! Had he not been teachable he would not have been blessed. There are blessings that come with being teachable! Peter learned a valuable lesson that day: just because you have a title or experience under your belt doesn’t mean you know everything- so seek wisdom and never underestimate the power of God through your obedience. Have a teachable spirit!
Bonus Tip: Being a great follower means do unto your leaders as you would do unto God. In other words work unto others as you would work unto the Lord like Colossians 3:23–24 says.
Remember how I used the example of Joshua following Moses and Peter following Jesus? Each of them that followed became great leaders themselves. Matthew 20:16 says that the last shall be first and the first shall be last! The followers ended up having followers! Matthew 7:12 says “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. What goes around eventually comes around. If you follow your leader then others will follow you! Just because someone is leading the “follower” doesn’t mean the follower isn’t still leading. You can lead when you’re not in charge. Today’s blog is not just about us following our leaders but we need to follow the Lord who is the Ultimate Leader of our lives. Follow Jesus by being submissive to Him, by willing to be used by Him and be teachable (desiring to learn from Him). We need God leading us as we lead His people. Leadership is an impossible task without God. Let’s follow the example of those that God has placed over us to lead us and let’s follow Him for guidance, wisdom and direction as we lead others. Let’s Follow The Leader!
