Follow Me? You Might Want to Rethink That

Years ago when I was working on the farm, we had a large animal veterinarian who was one of the finest men you'd ever meet. He was old school. Back when vets didn't have office hours as much as they had "whenever the cow decides to get sick" hours.

If a horse had colic at 2 a.m., he was there.

If a cow was down on Christmas morning, he was there.

If a goat got its head stuck in a fence trying to eat something it shouldn't, he was there too.

One year we had a horse that had foundered and had west nile, and for a while I was seeing Doc nearly every day as he stopped by for the treatment. One evening he pulled into the farm, and I could tell he was running on fumes.

I asked, "Doc, have you been home lately?"

He laughed and said, "Not much."

Then he told me a story I never forgot.

He had been out on calls for several days with very little sleep. Around midnight on a Saturday night, he was finally trying to get home. As he drove, he caught himself nodding off behind the wheel.

He rolled the window down.

Turned the radio up.

Slapped himself in the face a few times.

Nothing was working.

Finally, he pulled off at a wide spot in the road. His vet truck had a water tank and pump on it, so he figured he'd spray some cold water on his face and wake himself up enough to make it home.

As he stepped out of the truck, he noticed a car that had been following him also pull over.

Doc walked to the back of the truck, grabbed the hose, and started spraying water all over his face.

About that time a fellow came staggering toward him. Cigarette hanging from his mouth. Speech slurred. Walking a path that looked like he was trying to avoid invisible snakes.

The man asked, "Hey buddy... can you tell me how to get to Cedar Creek?"

Doc concerned about the man's sobriety said, "Sure. That's on my way home. Why don't you just follow me? I'll slow down and point out your turn when we get there."

The fellow stared at him for a second.

Took a long drag off his cigarette.

Then said, "Buddy, I've been following you for the last several miles, and the way you've been driving, I believe I've got a better shot of making it on my own."

I don't know if Doc laughed or cried.

Probably both.

But I've thought about that story many times when reading the words of Jesus.

One of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible is:

"Judge not, that ye be not judged." (Matthew 7:1)

Many people take that to mean we should never call sin what it is.

But that's not what Jesus said.

In fact, a few verses later Jesus tells us to first remove the beam from our own eye so that we can see clearly to remove the speck from our brother's eye (Matthew 7:3-5).

Notice Jesus didn't say ignore the speck.

He said deal with your beam first.

The issue isn't correction.

The issue is credibility.

If I'm swerving all over the road myself, I probably don't need to be giving driving lessons.

Jesus asked: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Matthew 7:3)

Before I start pointing fingers, I need to check the mirror. Before I become a guide, I need to make sure I'm actually following Christ.

Jesus gave an even stronger warning: "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." (Matthew 15:14)

That's the spiritual version of following a sleep-deprived veterinarian down a winding mountain road at midnight.

Neither one ends well.

The Bible also reminds us: "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." (James 3:1)

That's a sobering thought. God doesn't expect perfection from His people. If He did, none of us could speak. But He does expect honesty, humility, and repentance. People are watching our lives long before they listen to our words.

Paul told Timothy: "Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)

And Jesus said: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)

Our testimony is either helping people toward Christ or giving them reasons to stay where they are. It's hard to convince people that Jesus changes lives when our own life looks exactly like the world.

Paul wrote: "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine." (1 Timothy 4:16)

Notice he said take heed to yourself first.

Before the doctrine.

Before the teaching.

Before the correcting.

Before the directing.

Take heed to yourself.

Every now and then all of us need to pull over beside the road, splash a little cold water on our face, and ask a simple question:

"Am I living the kind of life that someone should follow?"

Because if the answer is no, maybe it's time to stop giving directions and start getting our own steering wheel straightened out.