Another bike ride, another lesson for Lily. She wanted to ride next to me on the way home and so I thought I’d talk to her about being a follower this time. I taught her Three Things a Follower Does, because I believe being a good follower is more important than being a good leader, because everyone follows someone. I mean, think about it: the closest thing that the Christian church had to a real pope was Paul the Apostle (he wasn’t!) who literally wrote the textbook for the Church Age in his epistles… and this is what he said:

I Cor. 11:1, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”

Paul was following Christ.

So, as Lily pulled up next to me she started to talk about how she was concerned that I was going to go too fast and that she’d fall behind. That’s when I told her…

THREE THINGS A FOLLOWER DOES

1) A Good Follower Follows a Leader.

Heb. 13:7, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

…to trust me. That’s when you say something like, “Hey! Why didn’t call point one ‘a good follower trusts the leader.”

Because trusting the leader isn’t good enough, you have to follow the leader. To follow, one has to trust and obey, not just trust. You can trust your leader and believe he knows what’s right, but if you fail to obey you are not following.

God commands his people to go to church (Heb. 10:24-25). That’s going to require submission to authority, and it’s not always going to be how you want it to be. But, in a local church setting we have three options: 1) follow your pastor, 2) get a pastor you can follow, or 3) become a pastor. Number one is the best choice; you may have to sacrifice something you want to be able to do it though. Number two is fine as well, as long as you leave the right way. Number three could be tricky, because the biblical pattern is to be ordained by an existing pastor. There’s no pattern in the New Testament for lone wolves or rogues.

But going back to the original point: a good follower follows. This may seem simple, but if you’re not willing to trust and obey your leader, there’s no point in trying the next two points. If your leader isn’t doing something that’s wrong, and you want to further the work of the church you are in, then just trust and obey. Don’t expect perfection or you’ll be constantly exercising option two!

2) A Good Follower Doesn’t Get Ahead of the Leader.

Titus 2:2, “That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.”

So as Lily rode next to me, she got distracted and started to bike faster than me. This isn’t surprising, because I was pulling a trailer with two little fatties in it (Charlotte and Silas). Lily started to pull ahead of me, and I had to call her back. Why? Because a good follower doesn’t get ahead of the leader.

Some of us are very enthusiastic and want to get the job done… right now. As in let’s get after it and… what is taking so long! To quote my Pastor, who follows Christ, “I don’t have a problem with what God wants; it’s just His timing that sometimes I have a problem with.”

Paul was practically the leader of the entire New Testament church, and yet when describing himself he spoke of his patience (II Tim. 3:10)! Paul told the pastors that he was training for them to seek after patience (I Tim. 6:11). Paul then told his pastors to teach the wise men in their church to learn patience (Titus 2:2), and Paul himself directly told the congregations to learn patience (I Thess. 5:14).

If you know the direction your leader is going in, you need to do everything you can to help, but you need to be very careful to not get ahead of your leader.

Ever been in a leadership position and there’s that one person that’s getting ahead of you? You’re trying to lead the whole group, and he’s way out there going where you all need to go, but way ahead of you? It is an unintentional form of usurping authority.

A good follower will have patience with the leader, knowing that the leader is trying to bring everyone along and not just one person. Rather than get ahead of the leader, a good follower will do whatever he can to help the leader.

3) A Good Follower Communicates with the Leader.

James 3:13, “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.”

This one is very tricky, and the reason I put it last on the list is because I believe if you’re not doing the first two you shouldn’t try this one.

When we’re out bike riding, and I have six people behind me, I can’t see everything everywhere. I appreciate it when someone behind me says, “Car coming.” It’s impossible for me to see all of the danger, all of the time.

Your pastor is no different. If you see something and you have a concern, there’s nothing wrong with talking to your pastor in a spirit of meekness about it. If you have a track record of doing points one and two, he will trust you and he will listen to you. Most likely your pastor understands the concepts of wise counsel (Pr. 19:20; 24:6) and doesn’t think he’s above listening to others (I Cor. 10:12)

If you came to him in the right spirit he will definitely hear you, but you may not like his response. He may not see it your way. In fact, you may find yourself going by points one and two again in an all new manner, but hey, that’s what being a good follower is all about.