I sat in a conference with my spiritual father that day when these words jumped out of my heart and mouth, “Daddy has a followable faith!” I was encouraged to keep on following him afterwards. I saw that he can be followed. His faith is not mystical, it can be learned and applied practically in my own life and context with visible results. This has been my experience following my spiritual father. It has been a fruitful following.

Leaders must have followable faith. We have been called to follow the faith of those ahead of us, not just their fashion. We follow substance, not style. We follow their spirit, not their swag. We follow their principles, not their hair style. We follow their story, not their glory. You can be under the right leader and you are following the wrong things. Gehazi and Judas were following money and material things, not life formation (2 Kings 5:26, Matthew 26:15). Unlike Elisha, the sons of the prophet were following gists and information, not revelation and impartation (2 Kings 2:3-15). The sons of the concubine were following gifts, Isaac was following the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 25:5-6).

“Remember your leaders, those who have spoken God’s word to you. Think about the impact of their lives, and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7 ISV). The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of following and becoming. Until you follow, you cannot become; and until you follow right, you cannot become the right person in life and destiny. Following is an art. It is requires some skills. It thrives well on understanding. It is something crucial and not frivolous. It is based on revelation, not emotionalism. It is based on principles, not sentiments. It is a consciousness that we must carry into our everyday life.

Who you follow determines what follows you. How you follow determines how productive your following would be. We should follow leaders to the extent that they are following Christ; the real leader (1 Corinthians 11:1). Leaders must be transparent enough for us to see Christ in and through them. There must be no blind following. We don’t just follow results, we follow lifestyle (Hebrews 13:7b). The moment someone’s lifestyle contradicts his results, we are not bound to follow such person. The life of your leader will impact you more than his or her results.

We don’t just follow for fun; we follow for formation. Kingdom leaders must have followable faith, not mystical faith. Elisha did exactly what he saw Elijah did and he got exactly the same result (2 Kings 2:14). The disciples could reproduce the works of Christ because He was followable (John 14:12, 20:21). There was nothing hidden. He was not trying to prove mysterious. Friend, who are you following? How are you following? As a leader, how are you positioning yourself so you can be followable, modelling Christ before people and helping them to become who God has ordained them to become? These are thoughts that require your attention today. May you live a life of impact in Jesus name. Amen!

© ‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria