In an age when gaining followers on social media increases, people can buy real Instagram followers for free, and some platforms and services still offer quick gains of followership. Salvation is free, but Jesus’ followership and discipleship are costly, while missional leadership is sacrificial and transformational. Fake followers damage brands just as fake followers of Jesus not only damage Christianity but also decline the church and its leadership. When the follower count artificially inflates, it negatively impacts the brand’s credibility and engagement rates. Faithful followers of Jesus Christ recognise and obey His voice and follow His direction as a disciple who follows their Master no matter what. As Jesus’ followers, we learn to recognise His voice because we spend time communicating with and listening to Him. Jesus’ voice shapes and determines His followers’ vision and mission.

Havergal, Frances Ridley, daughter of the Rev. W. H. Havergal, in one of her hymns’ Master, speak! Thy servant heareth’ resonates with how Jesus described his faithful followers in John chapter 10. Bearing in mind that Jesus knows His followers, Havergal expressed her waiting, longing for Jesus’ voice, requesting Jesus to speak to her by name:

1 Master, speak! thy servant heareth,
waiting for thy gracious word,
longing for thy voice that cheereth,
Master, let it now be heard.
I am list’ning, Lord, for thee;
what hast thou to say to me?

2 Speak to me by name, O Master,
let me know it is to me;
speak, that I may follow faster,
with a step more firm and free,
where the Shepherd leads the flock,
in the shadow of the Rock!

3 Master, speak! tho’ least and lowest,
let me not unheard depart;
Master, speak! for oh, thou knowest
all the yearning of my heart,
knowest all its truest need;
speak! and make me blest indeed.

4 Master, speak! and make me ready,
when thy voice is truly heard,
with obedience glad and steady,
still to follow ev’ry word.
I am listening, Lord, for thee:
Master, speak, oh speak to me!

Jesus’ followers listen to His voice through quality time spent praying and studying God’s Word. Jesus’ followers also learn to discern, that is, to spiritually know something by the wisdom of God, His guidance to practising what He tells us through prayer and the Bible. Listening and following Jesus are in the present tense, indicating ongoing and consistent discipleship. As we continue to follow Jesus, He gives us eternal life. Those who stray from Jesus, refusing to listen and follow Him, prove they are not His sheep (Jn 15:1-6).

To follow Jesus is an invitation to walk with Him in the light of His words and thereby do His good will. To be Jesus’ follower is a call to an eternal relationship through discipleship by obeying Jesus’ teachings, taking and walking the same road he walked, that is, walking in the light of His Words and not through the seductive system of the world.