1 Corinthians 4:16
“Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.”
People often ask me what was one of the biggest influences in my young life that caused me to serve the LORD. My answer is that there was not one big influence, but there were many influences. There were so many people who took interest in me and asked me to do things with them that influenced me to walk in the paths that I should walk. Most of these people were not full-time servants of the LORD, but most were lay people in the church who simply followed the LORD’s command to disciple others.
Paul told the Corinthian church, “…be ye followers of me.” This was the same command that Jesus gave to Andrew and Peter when He said, “Follow me…” Paul understood that the greatest way to disciple people was to spend time with them. He even gave the prerequisite of when to stop following him in 1 Corinthians 11:1 when he says, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” Anytime he stopped following the LORD they were to stop following him. The only reason people are to follow us is so that we can train them to focus upon Christ. There are several things you need to do if you are going to influence others.
First, never go alone. The key to getting people to follow you is that you must ask people to follow you. Most of the time you should ask someone to go with you as you serve the LORD. When you go soul winning, ask someone to go with you. When you go to hear a preacher out of town, ask someone to go with you. When you go to visit someone in the hospital or nursing home, ask someone to go with you. Find excuses to get people to go with you. They learn how to serve the LORD by watching you conduct yourself in everyday situations.
Second, be willing to be inconvenienced. One of the biggest reasons people don’t influence others is because they don’t like to be inconvenienced. It will be inconvenient at times to ask someone to go with you, but if you want to influence younger Christians for right then you are going to have to be willing to be inconvenienced. There were times it was not convenient for Christ to have His disciples with Him, but He had them follow Him everywhere He went because He needed to influence them for right. Never let inconvenience be your excuse not to bring someone with you.
Third, let every situation be a teaching moment. Part of the reason you ask people to come with you is to teach them how to serve the LORD in every situation. You have to understand that how you conduct yourself in daily situations is a teaching moment for the younger Christian. You waste those moments if you avoid them or don’t stop to teach them. Jesus used the storms to build the disciple’s faith. He used the lack of food to show the disciples His ability to do much with little. Let every situation in which you are with someone be a teaching moment.
Fourth, realize the impact your life has on those who are following you. One misstep could cause one person to stop following Christ. With the privilege to lead others comes the responsibility to not hurt them. Be careful to live your life in such a manner that you don’t hurt those who put their confidence in you. They will eventually put their eyes on Christ, but until they do you need to be careful that you don’t do something that would cause them to lose confidence in the ways of Christ.