Can you follow me?

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1).

This is a bold statement, and no doubt one often used to portray the apostle Paul as an arrogant man. But these arguments must be thrown out, as all Scripture is inspired by our unerring God and is therefore good for our instruction and guidance (2 Timothy 3:16). In light of this, I do not believe that Paul could have said something sinful (ie: prideful) when writing this letter to the church at Corinth. After all, the word is inspired. God couldn’t possibly have inspired Paul to sin, could he? That being said, Paul was so good at following Christ that people could follow Him and thereby, follow Christ. I’m not suggesting that Paul was messianic in any way here, but that he was setting a fine example of what a man of God should look like. Truly, Christ was alive in him.

But look at this teaching through the eyes of Paul. When he said that he beat his body into submission, I’m sure he meant it. When, near the end of his life, he said that he had ran well and finished the course, he knew within the depths of his soul that it was true. For him to be able to advise a church (and over the course of time, every follower of Christ) that he was a worthy example to follow, he had to walk it out, every day, without fail. Paul didn’t say follow me as I follow Christ, except when I fall, or maybe just not on Friday night. Every moment of every day Paul set the example. As a Christian, people are watching you every day, waiting for you to slip so that they may accuse you. How much more Paul after a statement like that? The world loves to discredit a Christian, and Paul all but dared them to do it. And because the word of God is true, he never gave them the chance.

What a testimony! Can you tell your friends, your children, your congregation to follow you as you follow Christ? I have thought long and hard over this and a few things are clear: I’m not able to say this, and I’ve only met a small handful of men who could. But if Paul could instruct believers to follow him as he follows Christ, then it has to be possible that, when the people follow Paul, they will be able to one day say “Follow me as I follow Paul as he follows Christ.” And then cut out the middle-man, where they too may say “Follow me, as I follow Christ.” This is not merely possible, but required if we as men expect to lead our world. What good is it to follow Christ, after all, if doing so doesn’t change you? The world is watching, and if we don’t show them something worth seeing, they will want no part of it.

This generation, maybe more than anything else, needs the zeal of Paul to see Christ glorified in all things. Your children need you to catch this zeal. Your co-workers need you to catch this zeal. Your lost and dying world needs you to catch this zeal. For some, the fate of their eternal soul depends on you. Are you willing, by your own apathy, to condemn someone to Hell? It is past the time for men to stand up and be men. The church has worn out its welcome. Religion as usual no longer cuts the mustard, and the world doesn’t see value in us anymore. And why should they? What do we have to offer? Most churches do not say “Follow me, as I follow Christ,” but rather “Follow me, and we can be nice.” There is little value in being nice. Nonbelievers can be nice. It’s time, brothers. It’s time we stop being nice and start being real. People don’t need to be spoon-fed the secrets to living their best life now. They don’t need to learn how to be a better person. They need to be like Jesus. And the only way they will ever be like Jesus if we are like Jesus.

Step up, men. This is your call to action. Stand up, and shout it from the rooftops: “Hey world! Follow me, as I follow Christ!”



Ryan Saffer
Community Site Coordinator

Playing with Fire

Right now, my wife and I are in the process of redoing some things in our bedroom, and it has turned into quite the project. I joked with her about revisiting an earlier post (Unlocking the minivan, just like God would) but instead, calling it "Remodeling the bedroom, just like Satan would." She didn't think it was near as funny as I did, but I thought I had a point.

After all, Satan tries to get us into sin through small things. He never suggests we outright murder someone, but plants seeds of anger and hate that, left unchecked, will grow into murder. That's a lot like this project. It started as a simple "paint the walls" kind of deal. Now, after a few steps, we've tore up carpet to restore the wood floor buried underneath. But since this project was my wife's idea, she felt that maybe I was referring to her as the devil, which is not something I'm able to do while maintaining a happy marriage.


Instead, she suggested that I should write "Remodeling the bedroom, just like God would" and talk about how God will restore our old beauty to us, and though it may take lots of blood, sweat, and tears, the end result will be much like this finished wood floor: beautiful and worth all the effort. Go figure, huh? So rather than debate with my wife which it should be, I'll shut my mouth and move on to something entirely different.

Instead, I will blog about my new favorite tool: the heat gun. For those of you who have never used one before, it's not quite a flame thrower, but it's way better than a blow dryer. I will say that using it makes me feel kind of like the guy in the picture. There is a very real sense of power and destruction when using one of these things. Now if you've ever used a heat gun, you know I'm dramatizing a bit here (or a lot...), but it is a pretty fantastic tool. Truth be known, it's an awful lot a blow dryer, only more powerful. Currently I'm using it to heat the glue that is on the aforementioned wood floor so that it may be scraped up easily. Unfortunately, it is a difficult process, but it is the best I've found yet. Let me detail my anguish for you:

First, we tried sanding the glue off with one of those high-powered floor sanders that you have to rent from a hardware store and throws your breakers, leaving you standing quietly in the dark. Yeah, good times. This thing actually created more problems for me. Sanding the floor got the glue hot, which made the glue sticky again, and then hardened it more than it was before. So, after a rental fee and lots of sweat (and also gluing a sheet of sandpaper to my floor), we tried something else. Namely, mineral spirits.

They sound so elegant and lovely, don't they? Mineral spirits. It brings to mind something that fancy people drink in France after a high-dollar dinner with cheese and snails. No. No. No. It's more like turpentine. The jug warns of the burns you will receive if you touch it, but promises to be a beast when it comes to removing adhesive. From experience, the answer is no. While no glue came up, I did manage to get a dizzy feeling that reminded me of high school (where lots of bad things happened). So, forget the solvents.

Remembering how the sandpaper was glued to the floor, the next thought was to get the glue hot and scrape it up. Except I still hadn't heard of a heat gun, so I used a clothes iron instead. All I had to do was get a rag wet, lay it on the floor, and then put the hot iron on the rag. And you know what? It worked! Slowly. Also, the glue managed to work it's way through the rag and coat the iron. It will never touch clothing again. Finally, someone suggested the heat gun. I'd love to say the rest is history, but it's still a work in progress.

Anyway, all that being said, I've learned some pretty valuable lessons that cross over into the spiritual realm. First and foremost, when you're getting into uncharted territory, it is okay to ask for help. Video tutorials on YouTube do not count. Find someone who has been there and let them help you. Had I done that, the sander would not have been rented until after the glue was off the floor, and the glue would have likely come up with some light scraping. In the same way, you are not the first person to walk the road you are on. You have 2,000 years worth of experience ahead of you. Your first line should be to pray about whatever difficulty you are facing. After all, God knows. Second of all, ask some men in your church, maybe your pastor, or any other man who has been there. Your situation, however difficult, is not unique.

Second, you may never get the job done until you get the right tool in your hand. It doesn't matter how long you keep your nose on that old grindstone, you will just end up without a nose. Try something different. Change your approach. Stop beating your head against the wall. So many times, a church will say that they do things a certain way because they always have. People change, both inside and outside the church. Try a different approach. I will agree that the gospel never changes, but the packaging can. Just like Jesus used parables on farming when talking to farmers, you can be relevant, too. Prostitutes and drug addicts probably don't get the farming stories.

And probably most important of all, fire makes any job easier. Just like the heat gun is really doing wonders on this stubborn glue, the disciples learned on the day of Pentecost how vital that Holy Fire really is. You have simply got to have the power of God behind you if you expect to be effective. Sure, you can do some things without it, but if you really want to set your world on fire, you'd better bring the flames. Otherwise, you are all talk and no spark.

That's it for now. If you need me, I'll be on the bedroom floor, trying not to burn my house down.

Ryan Saffer
Community Site Coordinator