Follower at Night

(The idea for this post comes from the book "Not A Fan" by Kyle Idleman)

Jesus, throughout the Gospels, makes it very clear that following Him is not just a prayer repeated after an evangelist. Or a hand lifted at an altar call. Or mere belief in Him. Following Jesus means crucifying your selfish desires, sinful ways, and self righteousness. Putting your old self in the dumpster, and clothing yourself with a new way of life. A new way of living. A new way of acting. A new way of reacting. Following Jesus is a rebirthing. For some reason, ever Christian battles with this one thing: I want to be close enough to Jesus that I receive all the benefits, but far enough away that it doesn't interfere with my life. We come to Jesus wanting Him to inspire us, when Jesus wants to interfere and change us. We are cool with a few minor changes, a tune up if you will, when Jesus wants to give us a complete renovation. He wants to turn our lives upside down and inside out for His Cause. A man in the Bible is a perfect example of The typical christian: Nicodemus. 

Nicodemus is a member of the Sanhedrin (which is a very high class group of Religious leaders that pretty much rule the Jewish community.) Nicodemus hears of Jesus, hears his teachings, and becomes convicted that Jesus is from God. Now, in today's Christian society, many people would close their bibles and Praise God that Nicodemus became a follower of Jesus. But following Jesus is not mere intellectual belief and knowledge. Following Jesus is much much more. It's not just a decision, it's a commitment. Even the demons and satan himself believe in Jesus. Back to the story: John 3:2 says that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and tells Jesus that he believes he is from God. Why did he come at night? Because he wanted to follow Jesus without it interfering with His life. He came at night so that no one would know. He could begin following Jesus without any change having to come His way. But Jesus quickly cuts to the issue at hand. He tells Nicodemus that no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again. Woah. I can imagine Nicodemus giving Jesus the most puzzling look that one can possibly give someone. "Be born... Again?? Now Jesus, I've seen births in my anatomy class in Pharisee school, I don't know if that's possible.." But what Jesus is telling Nicodemus is a fundamental principle of Christianity that I think has been dropped down through the years: you cannot follow Jesus without a change taking place. You cannot follow Jesus just at night where no one can see you. Following Jesus is either all day - or non at all. You must be born again! Become a new creature, let the old pass away! 

Skipping down past Jesus explaining what it means to be born again to Nicodemus, in verse 19 Jesus starts with a phrase that I don't think is so coincidental: "light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." Remember how the chapter started off? -Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night(aka dark).-  This becomes even more clear with the next verse. Nicodemus came in the darkness of sin as well as the darkness of night. The chapter ends with this, "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God." I believe this chapter represents the core of spiritual warfare that goes on inside every believer. Jesus is talking on the issue of sin to this man that said he believes Jesus is from God. To some, this looks like Jesus is pushing Nicodemus away from believing in Him, when it is the exact opposite. Jesus is being straight up, and straight forward with this man. He is telling him exactly what is wrong, and exactly what he needs to do. Nicodemus came in the dark, but Jesus is telling Him that he needs to reside in the light. Nicodemus doesn't want anyone else to know about his belief, but Jesus says everyone needs to know. Jesus is addressing a teaching that is forgotten among many Christians: there is no forgiveness without repentance, just like there is no belief in Jesus without commitment to follow Jesus. Jesus would not accept a relationship with Nicodemus where he simply believed; Jesus wanted Nicodemus to follow. Later on in John chapter 19 we see that Nicodemus finally made that decision to follow. When most of Jesus' followers had abandoned Him, Nicodemus made a sincere act of affection and devotion to Jesus by bringing myrhh and aloe, 75 pounds worth, to Jesus' tomb. This was Nicodemus' defining moment. There was no hiding in the dark any longer. His devotion to Jesus was now all day.  

Today, many Christians are stuck following Jesus at night. They want to be inspired by Jesus without Him interfering with their lives. They confuse admiration for Jesus with devotion to Jesus, and they find themselves in this false reality of discipleship. Jesus is calling for you to follow him all day, not just in the night where no one knows and it doesn't affect you. It is either following Jesus all day or non at all. The decision is yours. 

Psalm 42:1 "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."