It is rumoured that Gandhi respected Jesus Christ as a great teacher and often quoted from passages of Scripture like the Sermon on the Mount. However, when asked by a Christian minister why he so adamantly refused to become a Christian, he replied: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
I remember as a child playing a simple game called “Follow the Leader.” Everyone would have to follow the person chosen as the “leader”, imitating perfectly that person’s actions and following in his or her footsteps. It is the same with the Christian walk. We are called to follow in the footsteps of Christ. Much is at stake if we don’t, including the lives of those who watch our supposedly Christian lives unfold. Even genuine Christians make mistakes and fall into the trap of sin, but our goal should be to repent, admit our mistakes, seek forgiveness from Christ and not let sin become a repetitive pattern in our lifestyles. (1 Jn 1:9-10)
On the same token, those who choose to reject Christianity merely because of the observed faults of a few Christians are making a grave and perilous mistake. Christ did not call you to follow other Christians, or to judge them. He calls you to follow Him! If you find Christ attractive, follow Him regardless of the unattractiveness of His supposed followers. There are many out there who call themselves Christians, but who are really only taking the Lord’s Name in vain. Jesus Christ left the glories of Heaven to come down to this earth to show us what God’s love looks like and to show us how we should live. We should pattern our lives after His life, and not after the lives of the great evangelists and preachers of our time.
Even the Apostle Paul, a devout Christian leader, told the early Christians to only imitate him as long as he imitated Christ. This clearly meant that the moment he stopped imitating Christ, was the exact same moment that they should stop imitating him! (1 Cor 11:1) Following a Christian is only good when that Christian is following Christ. So I pose the question, why follow Christians in the first place when you can rather just follow Christ?
Jesus often referred to Himself as the Shepherd and His followers as sheep. Sheep are silly creatures which are well known for their tendency to get lost. It is therefore vital that you put your trust in the Shepherd more than another sheep with a penchant for getting lost! Jesus said: “My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me.” It is vital that your Christianity hinge on a relationship with the Shepherd Himself. (Jn 10:11-16, 27-29; Mk 2:14, Mk 8:34)
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."-John 10:27-28
