You’ve probably seen the Darwinian depiction of the evolution of man. It shows 5 stages, beginning with an ape, on the left, with its long arms on the ground by its feet, then the gradual “coming up” of his arms until he becomes “homo sapien”—fully human—walking along proudly on the right, headed in that direction. Facing him, in the same direction, are all the intermittent-stage humans-in-the-making.

A few years ago, our son posted a meme with this picture with the caption “Quit following me!”

That makes me thankful for four things: 1) Humor; 2) That the Lord, not gradual evolution, created us fully human; 3) That we can follow Jesus, the truly Perfect, God-Incarnate, Man, not some end-stage product of evolution; 4) That He wants us to follow Him!

For those of us that decide to follow Him, we need to ask ourselves why we do.

In Mk. 5:22-34, we see a number of people come and follow Him for various reasons.

^“Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, ‘My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.’ So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years…  When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed…’”

Jairus, someone who was used to being in charge and respected, came to Jesus with a direct purpose. He recognized that Jesus had even greater power and authority. By being the first to come to Jesus for help, Jairus demonstrated humility and trust in following Him, as well as setting direction for others.

Others joined in the following to be part of the crowd and get in on the action. They had no idea who was up front, where they were headed or why, but that didn’t matter to them as long as they could be part of the crowd.

Similarly, many in the crowd following Jesus joined in out of curiosity to see what would happen. Jesus was famous. Jairus was well respected. Surely something exciting and good was “going down” and they didn’t want to miss being there when it did! Maybe some 1^st-century “paparazzi” were among these.

Then came the woman who’d been suffering for twelve years with bleeding that had made her constantly ill, uncomfortable, unclean, and therefore ostracized from society, not to mention the doctors who’d “bled her dry” financially! She came and followed out of desperation and hope, based on good reports about Jesus, and her own faith in Him.

Finally, there were those who saw Him act— healing the woman and raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead— they believed in Him and continued to follow. These included Jairus, his family, the woman, and anyone else in the crowd that day.

What about us? Why are we following Him? To be with our friends and part of the crowd? Out of curiosity? To be part of the action? For entertainment? Out of desperation and last-resort hope? To get something from Him? Out of faith? Out of thankfulness?

Those who “follow” Him for reasons other than faith, guidance, love, relationship, or gratitude aren’t really following Him. They’re observing Him. They’re evaluating Him. Or perhaps they’re even coming to Him temporarily, on an “as-perceived-need” basis. But until they, or we, go where He goes, do what He does, and carry out His instructions, we’re not following Him.

Otherwise, it’s like “following” someone on social media. A celebrity, someone we admire, maybe someone we want to learn or get something from, so we “follow” them. But that’s a fan, not a follower! That’s someone who still does their own thing, stops checking in when they lose interest, and perhaps even unfollows when they don’t like that person anymore.

But Jesus asks us to follow Him. This doesn’t mean we can’t come to Him for help. It doesn’t even mean we can’t join for less than the highest motives initially. Talk to any youth group leader about how many guys started coming to youth group to get to know at least one nice, pretty, girl!

If we know that we and others follow Jesus out of mixed or impure motives, certainly the Lord knows why people first come to Him. Yet He lets us “tag along”. We come to Him as we are, and He accepts us where we are. But He loves us too much to leave us there. For those that continue to stick with Him, the more we truly follow Him.

Years ago, when we lived and ministered overseas, we got to train national ministry leaders and couples. One such pastor-in-training thought we were being too naïve about his compatriots and warned us, “Watch out for some of these people who come to church events. They might act like they’re coming to worship and learn, but they’re really coming because they want money, or a job, or they’re looking for a spouse, or something else!”

I assured him we were aware of that. “It’s ok. Let them keep coming—if they stay long enough, they’re going to get more than they bargained for—they’ll actually get Jesus!” Some did. They became real followers. Those who didn’t want all in, who didn’t want all of Jesus, including His Lordship, eventually stopped coming around when they got tired of the “show”.

Interestingly, in that country, believers don’t call themselves “Christians”, due to the bad connotations associated with that term there. They call themselves “Jesus followers”. Indeed, that’s what we are and need to be, in the truest sense of the term.

Yes, Jesus says, “Follow Me…!” (Mat. 4:19; 9:9; 16:24), not “Quit following Me!” Just make sure we’re following Him for the right reasons. Why? So that we don’t give up and turn away when the going gets tough. Instead, we grow in faith, gratitude, and character as we “deny [ourselves], take up [our] cross, and follow” Him! (Mat. 16:24)