Follow.

Okay, I've now re-written this blog for the fourth time because of rabbit trails.  Maybe a fifth is on the way.  I wouldn't be surprised.

Jesus asked people to follow him and 12 did.  As I was reading Velvet Elvis, by Rob Bell, I was struck by the background Bell gives to this concept. 

Jesus was known as a young man with exceptional grasp of Hebrew scriptures (such a rebel...runs away from home as a boy to wow his teachers with his grasp of Torah).  He's referred to as "Rabbi" several times in the gospel accounts.  He was a well respected teacher of the law as we can see from his use of "you have heard it said...I say..."  People listened to him.  In other words, he had clout.

His disciples were dropouts.  The Hebrew education system was run with Nazi-like discipline (bad irony, I know) and young boys had to memorize all of the scriptures at a young age.  Those with a grasp of the application of the holy writings would continue in their education.  Others who weren't as sharp would drop out and get a job or apprenticeship in their family business. 

When Jesus calls these dropouts, they drop everything and run for him. Immediately. I always thought that it was because of the disciples' great faith that they did this.  Really, they were probably just pooping their pants because a great Rabbi was giving them a chance.  Every young boy in that culture aspired to learn under a great Rabbi but usually only the brightest kids got the green light.  Jesus forgoes natural born leaders and chooses the guys who scored a janitor spot on their high school employment test.

I really don't understand why.  It wasn't their knowledge.  It wasn't their charisma.  It wasn't their great faith. It wasn't their self-control. 

Hmmmm....

Come to think of it, there's no mention of their looks in the Gospels so it might just be that he picked the most handsome (cuz we all know that sometimes the most handsome looking fellas play with a few short of 52) but somehow I think that might not be the case.

Maybe he just wanted to show that God doesn't view us with the same grading scale that we judge each other with.  Jesus makes the requirements for a follower pretty simple..."Will you follow?"

It's my tendency to make my faith complex with a nebulous array of rings to jump through.  Jesus calls over and over again to me...

Follow. 

Run.

Fall.

Walk.

Crawl. 

Give.

Weep. 

Love.

Follow.

It is a call in this moment as clear today as on the shores of Galilee.  The dropouts are you and me.  We are the "not-good-enoughs" who've been passed over for someone with leadership skills, bigger muscles, and a sexy wife.  And Jesus shouts through our humiliation and shame and says, "I pick you.  Follow me."