So, you may had read on Monday that my Susan passed away. I’ve been watching the rest of my flock this week to see what their reaction would be. She was their leader. It’s interesting. We’d not lost a chicken so we weren’t sure what to expect. On one hand they don’t seem to notice she’s gone. On the other hand they seem to be a little willynilly. We’ve talked before about how chickens have a pecking order, they’re no different than the rest of the world, and Susan just happened to be the chick in charge. She peeped loudest, pecked hardest, and herded fastest. Lucky for the rest of the flock, she wasn’t too plucky, for a chicken, I mean.
Now, when chickens lose a leader nature takes over and they fill the gap. I’m telling you, chickens aren’t so different than us. A new hen will emerge as the leader, and the flock will be reordered. Things for them have changed. Exactly the same for us, right? In every house, group, church, office, sport, school, club, there is always a leader and there are always followers. From the playground to the boardroom either you lead or you follow. The more I read the more I find that throughout history, people aren’t so different than my girls.
The Lord said to Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.”
So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.
Numbers 13:1-3
Do you see that? God led Moses, Moses was the follower. Moses led the tribal leaders, the tribal leaders were the followers. The tribal leaders led the tribes, the tribes followed. And so on and so on. It’s circular. Skilled leaders have skilled followers who become skilled leaders. Not all leaders are good, but there was one who was especially Good, in fact perfect, spotless.
Remember Jesus and His followers…the disciples.
So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them…
Matthew 26:19
He was their Leader. He was their Comforter. He was their Provider. You know, I can’t even imagine how they must have felt as they watched the Crucifixion, as they thought they lost their Leader. As they did not fully understand His teachings to this point, they may have even felt abandoned, lost, willynilly. Their Leader was dead, or so they thought. And what happened? The led became the leaders. The followers became the followed. Followers of the Word. Leaders of the faith.
…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28:19-20
This is how the gospel was spread – leaders to followers to leaders. We are all called to be leaders and followers. We are to go and make disciples. We are to lead folks to the salvation of Jesus. But, we can only be leaders if we are followers. Followers of the Word, not followers of the world. In this very Word, we are given everything we need to lead. In fact, we can only lead if we follow this Word. Not my word or your word, the Word.
So I ask myself, am I a leader or a follower? Am I a leader of the Word or a follower of the world? That’s a little ouchy. You too? You see, I cannot be both. The Leader’s teachings say that. We have a choice, a difficult choice. Leaders have followers that become like their leaders. Who is leading me? Who is leading you? Who am I following? Who are you following? Leaders of the Word, or followers of the world?