Followers of Christ

3 weeks ago on the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” Matthew 9:30-37

As I am preparing for the year end mission trips I am reminded of this Gospel text. Jesus does not ask us to imitate him or copy him. There cannot be a Jesus version2. There is only one Jesus. I acknowlegde also that there is only one me. I am not called to copy Jesus but I am called to follow Jesus. There is a difference between being a Jesus copier and a Jesus follower. There are many copiers of Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley etc... but Jesus is not asking us to be His copiers. Jesus invites us to be his followers and thus enter into a relationship with Him. People who copy Michael Jackson can probably dance like him but they do not know him. I can copy the words Jesus spoke in the Bible, but if I do not know him personally I am not His follower.

So where does this leave me as I prepare for the upcoming mission trips... Acknowledge that I am me, uniuqely me and I am following Jesus... Jesus enables me and empowers me to continue on His mission, the work of proclaiming His love to the ends of the earth.