What Exactly Does a Believer Follow?

[Steel]

I'm starting this thread in the hope that it helps us as a community come to better understand the matter of how we, as believers in Christ Jesus, follow something.

All too often I read on threads (and have even been accused myself) of a person or persons "...following Witness Lee..." (meaning, following a man), or "...following the brothers...", or "...following LSM...", and so on. But what exactly is the content... The reality of our "...following..."?... Are we chained to any of these persons/things, so that wherever they go we must follow? Surely not, right... As has been proven by many here... Anyone can just choose to not "...follow..." someone or something.

Now there may be hardship/suffering in the application of this choice... But this hardship/suffering doesn't stop the application of the choice to stop "...following..."... It only makes the application of it somewhat of a hardship or suffering. Google the search term "scripture we learn through suffering"... Over 10,000,000 seach results... The first of which, from Bible.org, is titled, "The Value of Suffering"... Which links to an article that begins with the paragraph... "There is no such thing as pointless pain in the life of the child of God. How this has encouraged and strengthened me in the valleys of suffering and pain! In this essay I'll be discussing the value of suffering, an unhappy non-negotiable of life in a fallen world."

Here's one of Paul's speakings on the matter... Acts 14:22... "Establishing the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God." . . . And there are many, many more scripture verses that speak on the matter of hardship/suffering being used by the Lord to bring us deeper into Him as our reality.

So, again... Although we are not chained to anyone or anything, and can therefore choose to not follow either at any time we wish... There can be a hardship/suffering involved in doing so... But this hardship/suffering, if scripture is to be believed, will work out for our own benefit... And something that works out for our benefit should be considered a good thing.

Now, if we can choose to not "...follow..." someone or something, then this tells us that to "...follow..." someone or something is also a choice we make... And this being the case... The reality of "...following..." someone or something is really a matter of individual choice... Which according to scripture takes place in an individual way and in the individual heart of the person making the choice.

When, as born again believers, we stand before our Lord... We will be standing as individuals... Not a group. And we'll be standing as individuals because we alone are responsible for our choices... Which is what the Lord will be judging at that time. . . . Saints... The truth is... We as believers "...follow..." our own individual thoughts... Meaning... The person that someone says is "...following Witness Lee..." is not following Witness Lee, but only following their thoughts regarding Witness Lee. And the same goes for all other things we all "...follow...".

And this is why scripture tells us in Ephesians 4:23... "...be renewed in the spirit of your mind..." and Philippians 2:5... "...Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,...".

I don't follow a person, or a ministry, or anything else... I follow my mind... And it is the same for all of us. And because I've come to know this, over the years I have become more and more focused on what I allow my mind to receive, consider, and digest. Which is the reality the following scripture verse speaks to...

1 Peter 1:13... "Therefore girding up the loins of your mind and being sober, set your hope perfectly on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

See that... "...girding up the loins of your mind... and being sober,... set your hope perfectly on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." . . . There it is... The need... And the solution to the need... Let us gird the loins of our minds... Because it is the sober thing to do... And to be sober is to set our hope... Perfectly... On the grace being brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. . . . Nothing else but setting our hope on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ can gird up our minds.

And so that is what I try to always pursue in all my pursuing... The hope that I have in the grace being brought to me at the revelation of Jesus Christ. . . . And scripture tells us that grace that we can receive at the revelation of Jesus Christ can sometimes be found being expressed out of speaking donkeys, dry dead bones, former murders, unsaved Roman centurions, crazy looking men in dressed in camel skin, an old man building an ark... You get the picture.

A very dear older brother (been holding to WL's ministry since the late '60s) I know from my time in the local church in Miami once said to me... "Develop a taste for life, and in doing so, you will instinctively know when what you're eating isn't life." . . . Nothing about Witness Lee or his ministry, just that simply speaking . . . I've never forgotten those words... And today... If there is anything that I follow... It is what I believe tastes of life.

And this is what I try to encourage others to do as well.