![\"Searching](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Searching-for-...-2.jpg?resize=560%2C315\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I remember clear as day the thought in my mind as we swung out on the blind bend to pass the car in front of us, high up in the Alps: \u201cI hope they\u2019re right!\u201d<\/p>\n
Quite what the French car we were overtaking thought, as our Rover 218 with 6 kayaks on the roof screamed (OK, struggled) past, I\u2019m not sure. \u2018Les idiots\u2019 is a mild guess.<\/p>\n
But thanks to our trusty two-way radios, we felt confident, ish. We were travelling in convey, a sort of default Brits-abroad move that has been bred into our DNA across generations of international explorers. The lead car would radio back to tell us that the road was clear and we can overtake. This way we spent less time in the mountains and more time on the rivers. Made perfect sense at the time.<\/p>\n
Thinking back to that part of my youth I am reminded that an act of following is always a step of faith.<\/p>\n
Now following might be one of the most natural things to us in the world. As children we learn by following examples of those around us. We grow up following behind leaders: teachers, sports captains, parents etc. It\u2019s a very naturally assumed relationship.<\/p>\n
But as we get a little older we often begin to question these relationships. \u2018Why am I following this person?\u2019 we might muse \u2013 which is the polite expression of an inward belief that we can surely do better ourselves. Questions like this one also come, rather quickly I suppose, after we have been let down. As children, grown-ups can do no wrong. But that doesn\u2019t last for long. A let down by a leader rocks our faith in the assumed understanding that the leader has our best in heart, that they know and care for us and are competent to take us to where we need to go.<\/p>\n
Sooner or later we all realise that our leaders \u2013 other people \u2013 are as flawed and limited as we are. People we look up to can wound us deeply when they fail to live up to our standards for them. A toppled hero can be devastating. A quick look at public reaction when much-loved celebrities become embroiled in scandal is proof enough of this.<\/p>\n
This is true everywhere. Work, sports, and yes, sadly, even within the church.<\/p>\n
Some will cease following others, and follow their own desire. They\u2019ll set their own path and appoint themselves captain of their one-man ship. And of course, we don\u2019t all look for meaning by following people. We follow teams, brands, entertainment, fashions, the recycling code \u2026<\/p>\n
In John\u2019s gospel Jesus makes a series of \u2018I am\u2019 claims. He uses these to communicate who he was to his hearers. In one scene Jesus is standing in the treasury \u2013 part of the temple in Jerusalem \u2013 between two great lamp stands that held many lamps as a representation of the pillar of fire that led the Israelites through the desert at night time.<\/p>\n
The pillar of fire was the presence of God, and in following it, the Israelites moved from captivity to their own Promised Land.<\/p>\n
In a similar way, we I think seek to follow people, things, desires, dreams \u2026 in the hope that they will lead us from where we are \u2013 what might feel like captivity to us \u2013 to our own Promised Lands.<\/p>\n
Jesus, using the two great lamp stands as his illustration, points to himself and says,<\/p>\n
\u201cI am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.\u201d (John 8:12, ESV)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Jesus\u2019 invitation is to follow him, and in him find meaning in this life. Jesus doesn\u2019t make this statement without support however. He doesn\u2019t say to people to follow him without looking at who he is, without investigating his life, his death, and ultimately his resurrection<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Vulnerability and Passion<\/h2>\n
The tragic thing about a let down is that the real hurt comes not in the sting of the moment, but in the shutting down of that part of us so that we don\u2019t get let down again. People, dreams, hopes: it sucks when they let us down. So we say to ourselves it won\u2019t happen again.<\/p>\n
We might sing about all those years of hurt experienced since England last won a major football competition and say we still dream, but we dream with our armour on. We hope against hope that something good will happen, but we also limit our excitement.<\/p>\n