By Eric and Anne Mendheim, CVCYouth LifeGroup leaders
As we serve the students of CVCYouth, and raise teenagers in our own home, we are constantly being challenged to utilize social media. We are amazed by the notion that we can “friend” someone we have never met and express our support for a project or person by “liking” a status or “following “ his or her site. However, what does it really mean to “follow?”
A choice to follow someone on the Internet does not require much from the follower. Occasionally, we will pass information along to others, but there is very little time, talent or personal commitment on our part to promote the cause. This is simply not the reality when it comes to “following” Christ. When Jesus asked his first disciples to follow Him, their responses required more than a keystroke on a computer. They sacrificed their livelihoods, personal comfort and previous plans to follow Him.
Today, we are asked to do the same. Discipleship isn’t just becoming a church member or signing up to be part of LifeGroup (both of which are very important), but it is committing your whole being to knowing the Lord and serving others through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In our ministry with CVCYouth, that often means extra hours on our knees praying for students, much time and some additional funds spent on preparing for LifeGroup night, and of course, extra gallons of gas, late nights at camp and long hours of personal (or electronic) communication. However, these sacrifices hardly seem like a burden in light of all that Christ sacrificed for us to know Him.
We are reminded of 1 John 4:11, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another”. That is the best motivation for Christians who truly desire to be Christ “followers.”
