“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.” – Mark 9:42

There is a reason why God refers to us as sheep. Like sheep, we humans are guilty of blindly following other sheep, many times to our own detriment. This happens most often when being easily swayed by the court of public opinion to change our beliefs. For many of us, it is easier to find the popular view and proudly update our Facebook profile picture with some filter that accurately reflects our “beliefs,” than to actually stand up for the truth as a Christ-follower, no matter how “offensive” it may seem.

It’s interesting to think about how quickly we latch onto people who are in the limelight, for example, and buy-in to their ideologies, while ignoring the leading of the True Shepherd and God’s Word. We naturally look for people to put up on a pedestal so that we can worship them and their way of thinking instead of seeking the Lord alone for guidance. We are like the children of Israel (whom God often referred to as sheep) in that regard. They begged to have a King who could lead them so that they would be like the other nations of the world instead of simply following after the One True God. We are just as guilty of trying to find a leader to follow when God is right there trying to lead. This is so dangerous because many of the most prominent “trend-setters” have no interest in living God-honoring lives. Just think of the amount of Twitter followers these people have.

It is even more dangerous if the person we are following claims to be a Christian or is a mis-guided believer. We need to be reminded that people are imperfect and have their own selfish agendas that will ultimately let us down, leaving us disenchanted and discouraged.

When someone we look up to leads us astray or lets us down, we feel as if God has let us down in some way since this person was supposed to be “God’s representative.” That is why it is so important for us to be grounded in the Word of God and led by the Spirit so that when an imposter comes along spouting some man-made ideology we are not deceived into straying from the faith. This truth cannot be overstated- if we allow a person to hold our attention and our devotion equal to or more than Christ, then we are in serious danger of being led away into spiritual bondage. This type of bondage is particularly difficult to identify because the message becomes so ingrained in our minds as “truth,” since it supposedly came from a “messenger” of God, that we can no longer decipher between what really is God’s Word and what is just someone’s opinion or preference. In fact, God is so concerned about His people being led astray that He not only warns them of it over and over in His Word but He also warns the people who are doing the deceiving of His judgment.

There are many people who strive for a position of leadership in the church, going so far as to forge ahead themselves without submitting to a local board of elders, or even worse, the Word of God. If you desire to lead, then be sure that it is God who is leading you and not your own selfish desires and ambitions, because the Bible is clear that there is a stricter judgment for those in a position of spiritual authority. If you are knowingly deceiving someone to follow after you or if you are causing someone to sin and stray from his or her relationship with God then you must stop immediately and repent. As believers we have a responsibility to follow the Lord first and foremost, not allowing others to influence us but to live under the influence of Christ. By doing this we will then be able to properly lead others in following hard after God and not lead them astray.

“Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words… Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” – Colossians 2:4, 8