Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. – Matthew 16:24

When you hear the term “follower,” you probably immediately associate it with a social media number or popularity gauge. Because being a “follower” can be reduced to following someone’s social media account, we might consider ourselves as “followers” of Jesus being that simple: I prayed a prayer years ago, so therefore I’m a follower of Jesus.

Did you know it is possible to be a Cultural Christian but not actually be a follower of Jesus? How do you know if you are truly following Jesus or simply “following” the patterns of Cultural Christianity?

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ – Matthew 7:21-23

Cultural Christians are fans of Jesus; they may listen to Christian music, wear Christian t-shirts, and go to church services, but they’re not saved. They have never been truly born again. People can literally do Cultural Christian things and not even know Jesus!

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. – Romans 10:9-10

If you have never prayed and asked Jesus to be the Lord of your life, today is the day! Jesus wants to come into your heart and transform into a new person. No matter what you’ve done, God loves you, wants to save you and be the Lord of your life!

Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. – 1 Corinthians 3:12-15

Maybe you are saved but are still living as a Cultural Christian and not a true disciple of Jesus. 1 Corinthians 3 talks about people who will barely make it into heaven and all of their work on earth will be burned up. They won’t have any rewards in heaven because they were Cultural Christians rather than followers of Jesus. True disciples follow the life of Jesus and teachings in scripture.

Disciples follow Jesus. They don’t just sing worship songs; they follow Jesus. They don’t just pray; they follow Jesus. They don’t just read the Bible; they actually do what the Bible says and follow Jesus. Disciples follow the life of Jesus and the Word of God. It’s time to build your life as a disciple of Jesus!

No matter where you are in your walk with God, it’s not too late to move from Cultural Christianity to living as a true disciple of Jesus! Reflect on today’s verses and pray that God would show you how to start living as a true disciple and how to take your walk with the Lord to the next level and move from being a fan to a follower.