Who Are You Inviting to Follow You as You Follow Jesus?

By Pastor John Erickson

Who has made a significant difference in your life?

I'm not asking who gave you the best advice you've ever heard. I'm asking about someone whose presence changed the direction you were going.

Maybe it was a parent, teacher, coach, pastor, coworker, or friend. They saw something in you. They invited you along. They let you ask questions and watch how they lived.

One of those people for me was a youth leader named Rick. He saw something in a shy teenager who did not have much confidence. His investment helped put me on the path toward ministry.

But what I remember is not a complicated mentoring system. I remember being invited into his life.

And I think we need more of that.

Elijah Thought His Story Was Finished

The prophet Elijah experienced an extraordinary victory on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18. You'd think it would change everything.

But it didn't.

The political leaders remained hostile. Elijah was threatened, exhausted, and deeply disappointed. In 1 Kings 19, he told God he felt alone.

Have you ever felt like that? You pour yourself into something, believing you're doing the right thing, and the results are nothing like you expected.

In the middle of Elijah's disappointment, God gives him another assignment. Part of that assignment is to call Elisha, the person who will eventually succeed him.

It's as if God is widening Elijah's view. The story is bigger than one prophet's immediate success or failure.

That disappointment feels familiar to me. I have put my heart into ministry efforts, including community outreaches that brought a lot of people together, and then wondered why the lasting results were not what I had hoped. There can be real excitement followed by a discouraging silence.

Elijah's story reminds me that God's work is larger than the outcome I can measure today. Sometimes the next faithful step is investing in someone who will carry the work beyond me.

Elijah is not meant to do everything himself.

Neither are we.

The Mantle Is an Invitation

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah finds Elisha working in a field and throws his cloak over him.

That may seem odd to us. Imagine somebody walking past you while you're mowing the lawn, throwing a jacket over your shoulders, and continuing down the street. You would have questions.

But in this story, the gesture is meaningful. The cloak, sometimes called a mantle, symbolizes the prophetic calling Elijah is inviting Elisha to share.

And Elisha responds. He leaves his former work and follows Elijah.

This is more than a transfer of responsibilities. It's the beginning of a relationship where Elisha can watch, learn, serve, and be prepared.

I think that's what we often miss when we talk about discipleship.

Discipleship Isn't Just Downloading Information

It's easy to imagine spiritual growth as attending enough classes, hearing enough sermons, or reading enough books.

I love learning. I think theology matters. But information alone isn't the same as becoming like Jesus.

When Jesus called his disciples, he invited them to follow him. That meant spending time together. They saw how he responded to tired people, difficult questions, criticism, suffering, and those everyone else overlooked.

They didn't just study his words. They watched his life.

A healthy mentoring relationship does something similar.

Rick taught me to barbecue. We would get steaks and cook together. I did not have cable, so I went to his house to watch Band of Brothers. Cooking and military history are still interests of mine, and I can trace part of that back to time spent with him.

He also invited me to go with him to Bible-college classes. His first class started early, which meant leaving before dawn to deal with Los Angeles traffic. I spent the day going to classes and meeting professors. He introduced me as someone who was going to attend there. He could picture a future for me before I could picture it clearly myself.

Along the way, we talked about Jesus, ministry, and the struggles in his own life. That is what made it discipleship rather than simply a collection of shared hobbies. He was inviting me to follow him as he followed Jesus.

It might happen over a cup of coffee. While serving together. While working on a project. During an ordinary conversation where someone asks a question that goes deeper than, "How's work?"

It doesn't require a fancy program.

It does require us to make room for other people.

We Need Both Sides of the Relationship

I want to ask two questions.

First, who are you learning from?

I once asked our leadership team who was discipling them. I assumed at least some would name me. Nobody did. That was an uncomfortable reminder that spending time around people is not the same as intentionally helping them follow Jesus. I needed to become more deliberate too.

Is there someone whose life reflects the character of Jesus and who can speak honestly into yours? Not a perfect person. There aren't any. But somebody who is farther along in an area where you want to grow.

Second, who are you investing in?

It can feel intimidating to think of yourself as somebody who might mentor another person. You probably know your own shortcomings better than anyone.

But discipleship isn't telling another person that you've figured everything out. It's inviting them to walk with you as you continue following Jesus.

And sometimes the people we overlook are the very ones who need an invitation. Children. Teenagers. Someone new to faith. A friend who's asking hard questions.

You may be able to offer more than you realize simply by showing up and being available.

The Goal Is Not to Build Our Own Reputation

There's a temptation in leadership to measure success by how much depends on us.

If everybody needs us, we must be important, right?

But that isn't a healthy definition of leadership.

Elijah's influence continues through Elisha. The story doesn't end when Elijah's role changes. It extends through someone he helped prepare.

The same should be true of us.

If a church, family, ministry, or workplace collapses the moment one person leaves, something important was missing. Healthy leadership equips others rather than making them permanently dependent.

So think back to the person who changed your life. What did they do for you? Did they listen? Invite you along? Trust you with responsibility? Encourage you when you felt unsure?

Could you do something similar for somebody else?

You don't have to be famous, particularly gifted, or finished with your own spiritual growth.

You just have to be willing to share your life.

Someone once made room for you. Who might God be asking you to make room for now?