Don’t Follow Me… Follow Jesus: Wrestling with Faith, Church, and Real Belief

“Don’t follow me… follow Jesus.”

If you’re anything like me, you may have read that and immediately thought “Don’t tell me what to do.”

Whether that sounds like “I’m going to follow you BECAUSE you told me not to” (power of reverse psychology) OR it manifests more like “I won’t follow Jesus because religion is not for me” (or something along similar lines); rebels like myself don’t follow blindly just because someone (even super charismatic influencers) suggested it.

We need proof, just like “doubting Thomas.” Show me your scars Jesus, and I’ll show you mine. Miraculously, when we authentically call upon the name of Jesus (not for the purposes of a dramatic Easter *performance set to emotional music with flashing lights up on a mega church stage) from our true heart, He opens the door just as it reads in the following scriptures:

Ask, Seek, Knock

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:7–12)

Are you truly seeking God? Or are you simply looking for the all the inherent flaws associated with organized religion? Personally, I’m trying not to judge the *performance aspect of big production churches (including my own) because I do believe the overall intention is good.

At our church this past Easter weekend, our lead Pastor asked each one of us to sincerely consider this question from God: “Do you love Me?” He poignantly followed it up with “Do you love me, not for what I can give you or do for you but for ME, regardless of circumstances?

If you had been there to hear the raw emotion in our pastor’s voice when he posed this question, you would most likely believe that his own answer to God’s question is that he truly loves God with all his heart, mind, and soul, simply for who God is — for His pure goodness no matter the tests, pain, or trials this life inevitably presents along the way.

By the way, our church did an AMAZING job with the choir performances and other professional quality entertainment. So when I say that I am trying not to judge it has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the productions. It has everything to do with the no-nonsense, scholarly Bible Study tiny one-hundred-percent unpaid volunteer-run ecclesia

I grew up in compared to this multi-million dollar annual budget enterprise where masses flock to be entertained twice a year (Christmas and Easter), rather than seeking and studying God’s Word to know Him better and love Him more all year long.

There are pros and cons with both kinds of churches. I learned a ton from my childhood church where EVERYONE knew everyone else and people definitely noticed whenever you missed an event. I fell in love with the contemporary worship music and passionate preaching at the church I’ve been attending for the past 31 years.

It wasn’t until recent years that I actually started genuinely connecting with people in smaller group settings at this HUGE church and it has been life-changing in all the best possible ways.

Atheists and agnostics claim they can’t see God, therefore God does not or may not exist. I would argue that WE are the hands and feet of God as members of the body of Christ and therefore GOD can and will be seen and experienced via relationships in real time in real life! I know, WILD, right?

And believe me, I have shared some of the same hard questions with several of you such as “Why would God create this world knowing it would quickly become a sinful, broken “fallen world” in need of a savior?”

Two answers immediately come to mind for this one. The first one is “There is a GOD and I am not Him…” (merely a member of His family). The second response is “By design, God intentionally created children with the gift of FREE WILL, because He didn’t want AI robots who give all the correct answers desired by the user.”

I pray that this perspective helps those who struggle with these challenging questions and more. I invite your respectful comments and additional questions to be addressed in future stories.

If you are part of the older crowd including these generations, Silent Generation (1928–1945), Baby Boomers (1946–1964), Generation X (1965–1980), you may remember classic advice columns in the black & white printed old-school newspapers like Ann Landers and “Dear Abby”

Ann Landers (Esther “Eppie” Lederer) and Dear Abby (Pauline “Popo” Phillips) were influential, competing advice columnists born as identical twins on July 4, 1918. Starting in the 1950s, they revolutionized advice columns with direct, modern, and witty responses, reaching over 100 million combined readers. (AI overview)

I just had the most delightful thought! Perhaps I could microcosmically represent a similar advice-giving column related to your biblical questions here at Medium ;) That could be fun! I will add the disclaimer right now that I will not have all of the answers to all of the questions. Anyone who claims they do have all of the answers, aside from God, is clearly lacking wisdom (also known as a “fool” in Proverbs.)

Should we go with “Dear Nora” or “Dear Grateful Gwen”? What do you think?

P.S. Also, don’t follow me because in this miraculous moment I have [John] 316 followers, so that’s pretty awesome! But do follow Jesus and exercise your FREE WILL to follow or unfollow whomever you choose (including me) ;)

© 2026 Nora Gwen. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in Culture & Faith.

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