Have We Fubued Jesus?
- Jan 7
- 2 min read
Dear Faith Family,
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me, (Luke 9:23).
Matthew wrote it six times. Mark four times. Luke four times. And John six times. Twenty times in four gospels Jesus said follow me. When your parents told you something once, they meant it. Two times – they were serious. Three times – you might want to pay close attention.
I want you to notice not only what Jesus did say but also what Jesus did not say. He did not say that He would follow you. For instance, when He called His disciples, He did not say I’ll follow you and make you fishers of men. Instead, He called them to follow Him.
Maybe an illustration? FUBU – an “American clothing and hip hop apparel company” according to fubu.com. Are you familiar? But do you know what FUBU stands for? “For us by us.” My fear is that we’ve dressed Jesus up in our favorite FUBU outfit. Has the contemporary Christian culture marketed Jesus as the latest and greatest consumable? “Come on, Jesus, help me live my best life now.” “Follow me, Jesus, and join me in my story.” Have we fubued Jesus?
Jesus, however, speaks in the opposite direction. He calls us to follow Him – to die to self and to live unto Him. He calls us to join Him in His story (otherwise known as history).
True confession – this is where it gets…, shall we say, uncomfortable? Like the disciples in John 14, we often don’t know where Jesus is going. We need to keep Him daily in sight. Spending time with Jesus isn’t just a good idea. It is a necessary privilege if we are going to follow Him. Like the disciples, Jesus often leads us into places we wouldn’t choose to go (a storm at sea, up on the mountain for some hard truth, into the midst of some pretty messed up demoniacs, down the road of forgiveness, in the garden of blood, sweat, and prayers).
We’d rather Jesus accompany us in our own plans. Would we rather have a fubued Jesus? I mean, surely there’s an easier path to leadership than the paths Joseph and Moses took. So, here’s the question: “Where is Jesus calling you to follow Him today?
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