Followship

The verses that caught my eye were Isaiah 30:20-21:

Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” 

The people of Judah clearly had leaders who pointed out the way, going all the way back to Moses and Joshua. The people of Judah never had a leadership issue (there were some bad kings, and a few more to come) as much as a FOLLOWship issue. Yes, followship isn't a word, and I suspect that's because we expect EVERYONE ELSE (except us) to follow.

Since I made the word up, it's my prerogative to define it. In my mind, followship is the mirror image of leadership, in that if a person has been chosen by the Lord to lead, the people have just as important a duty to follow as the leader has to lead. God chose Moses, Joshua, all the judges, Saul, David, Solomon, etc. as leaders, and he gave them all the abilities and talents necessary to lead the people of Israel. Some did it better than others, but in general terms, the nation of Israel wasn't sent off into Assyrian captivity because they didn't know what they were supposed to do. They had kings and prophets telling them of the Lord's displeasure with them, and yet they chose to rebel and disobey. The people of Israel had a followship problem, and it ultimately cost them their national identity.

Judah is tip-toeing down that same path, and Isaiah is clearly pointing out that there will be trouble, and specifically who will cause that trouble. The verses I chose today have the same triple meaning that most prophecy has:

1. They will be released from Babylonian captivity

2. The teacher (Christ) will be hidden no more in Christ's time--for those willing to open their eyes, he was right in front of them

3. Today, we have many voices telling us "This is the way." We may not always like what the way is, and we might not even understand it all the time, but on the high-level issues of Christianity, we have no doubt that our salvation is through Christ. 

Rick Warren wrote in "The Purpose Driven Life" something to the effect that you can tell if you're a leader if you have followers. Conversely, you can tell if you're a follower if you have leaders. Our job is two-fold--not only must we identify the teachers and separate them from the false teachers (which both Jesus and Paul will spend much time describing), but follow what the teachers tell us to do. As always, knowing what to do is the easy part--it's the actual DOING part that separates the chaff from the wheat.

Scott