Dec 28, 2021
Hey, it's Mike Henry with Follower of One, and I'm continuing our podcast series where I just talked through some of the stories about Follower of One. We began this in yesterday's episode, and then I told you about the day that I decided to follow Jesus. That was a Saturday. I had a great day on Sunday. I liked the Christians that I knew, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life following Jesus and hanging out with these other people that followed him.
But Sunday afternoon reality set in. I started to get this pit in my stomach. I didn't want to go back to work. I didn't want to go be something that I wasn't just so I could make money. I thought I was the only Christian there. I worked for my dad's trucking company. I didn't want to honor my father and mother.
I didn't want to go to work at all. About the time that I followed Jesus somewhere in this timeframe, we had some missionaries who spoke at our church and they talked about how they were called into ministry. I often use air quotes when I say that. They sold their home and they moved to some foreign country and they had been serving the Lord ever since.
And I thought that was just a cool idea. I wasn't all that excited about moving to some foreign country. My kids were both three or younger. But I figured that was God's problem. My problem was how do I get "called?" What do you have to do to get called? I started begging God to call me, to get me out of here, when it came to my job.
I was unhappy. My coworkers knew it. My own father suggested that I not be such a sour puss all the time. I was a problem employee, but I was also a new Christian. I wanted to go "into ministry" and I wasn't shy about being miserable.
I should add that the other people weren't the problem. It took me years to realize this. I was my own problem. I felt like I had to be and do things that weren't me just to earn a paycheck. My own misery was the beginning of the issue, it wasn't the result of the issue. One day, I heard that the Greek word most often translated "minister" in the new Testament was also translated "servant." In fact, Jesus used that word in Mark 10:45 when he said, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many."
Things just kept getting worse. Now I have to serve other people? I don't even like these people. I didn't want to be in this industry. I didn't want this job. I didn't like these people before I started following Jesus. So I sat by my phone. My most common prayer was "Lord, get me out of here." And I kept hoping that Jesus would call.
I would ask him what he wanted me to do so that he would call me, but he never did at least not on the phone. Over the years. I realized that as I was asking Jesus to put me into ministry, it was like he was saying, "Okay, Mike, you're a minister. Now get back to work!"
Do you follow Jesus? Okay. Then you're a minister. Let's get back to work. Jesus puts any one of us to work for him. He did me. We'll continue some of this tomorrow. I still feel like the before picture. I still feel like I'm trying to figure out what God would have me do. And I feel like I'm the worst example or the best example of what not to do.
But this is about Jesus, not about us. Let's serve others simply because we follow Jesus. We watch him put us into ministry and the results are up to him. It's his job to create the results that he wants. He works through our ministry, our service to others because we follow him. Like I said, we'll continue this tomorrow, but there's one other thing I'd like to mention, because I do all of this now as Follower of One, Follower of One is a nonprofit.
We're designed to mobilize people who want to follow Jesus, full-time. Friends of this ministry contribute in order so that we can keep our stuff free for others. We want to help you begin your own marketplace ministry. We're all ministers. Would you consider supporting us? If you would go to https://followerofone.org.
That's our website, and look for the little green donate button in the top right-hand corner. We want to help put Jesus's people to work. Your contribution will move us in that direction. Thank you very much.