UNFOLLOWING JESUS

Amanda Batson

Central Truth

When we desire to "unfollow" God, we must ask ourselves, "To whom shall we go?"

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)

The Words of Eternal Life

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

Let’s face it, we all have people in our digital lives who over-share on Facebook, have comments that make us cringe, and become super hard to love. Sometimes we treat God like our Facebook friends and click “unfollow.”

In this way, we don’t completely cut ourselves off from the relationship, but we don’t have to read it anymore. There came a point in my life when I made a clear decision to ”unfollow” Christ from my newsfeed. My heart started to crave the alluring freedom the world had to offer instead of standing firm in His freedom. I chose the path far from what God wanted for my life. Just like the disciples, I walked the other way and chose to leave His side because it was just too hard to be the person He called me to be.

I always claimed Christ as a “friend,” but stopped following Him. When we desire to run from God, we must ask ourselves, “To whom shall we go?” Do we run to those who ultimately deny sin's power? Do we run to those who believe their sinful rebellion is not so serious because He will just forgive us?

Many people will leave Him, see His power and deny Him, hear the truth and run the other direction. But as Simon Peter realized, only Christ has the words of eternal life. There will be no life outside of Him, no matter how fun, enjoyable, and entertaining it may seem. I am proud to say I follow Christ, and, by God's grace, He will never be “unfriended.”

1. What have I chosen to "unfollow" when it comes to Christ?

2. Are there things in my life that I should "unfollow" apart from Christ?

3. Have I heard the truth from Christ and chosen to desert Him?