Getting More Followers

During the pandemic a girl on TikTok licked a toilet seat on an airplane to get more views. Let that sink in. Later, she went on Dr. Phil’s show who asked her why and she said, “I was really annoyed that Corona was getting more publicity than me.” She went on to say that did it for clout. She, like so many of us on social media, has become addicted to likes, views, and follows. We have assigned value to people based on these things. The more of them you get, the more you’re considered an influencer. Because it feeds our ego, if people start losing followers, people start to do crazy things like licking a toilet seat on an airplane to get them back. This isn’t a phenomenon that’s just started. It’s been around for thousands of years.

In John 12, Jesus had been in ministry for 3 years and crowds followed Him. They wanted to see the next great miracle or even be a part of it like when He fed the 5,000. He continued to point people to God and repentance throughout His ministry. The Pharisees were livid that they were losing followers and clout and plotted to kill Him over it. Verse 43 says, “For they loved the glory that men could give them rather than the glory that came from God!” (TPT) Sounds familiar. However, we can contrast that with John the Baptist, who in John 3 was approached by his followers who were upset because people were leaving their ministry and “flocking to Jesus.” In verse 30 he replied, “It is necessary for him to increase and for me to decrease.” He understood that we must get people to follow Jesus rather than us.

In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (NIV). Are you trying to get followers for yourself or for Jesus? Are you following people or following Jesus? These questions get to the heart of our ego and remind us of what our purpose is. We can easily get caught up in the madness of trying to get more followers and then start doing ridiculous things when we lose them. If our goal is to follow Jesus and to get others to follow Him more than they follow us, then it’s hard to fall into that trap. John the Baptist understood the assignment. It’s not about us. It’s about Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with clout, being an influencer and getting millions of views as long as it’s not controlling your perceived worth and driving your life. Don’t just try to get people to follow you. Get them to follow Jesus instead.

Photo by Marwan Ahmed on Unsplash