Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
(Luke 9.23
NRSV)
The agent instructed Bushman to take the train to New York. Freedman met him at Grand Central Station, carrying a large sack of pennies. The sack had a small hole, and as the two gold-diggers walked along Forty-second Street they were followed along the trail of pennies by a surging crowd. By the time they arrived at the Broadway offices of the Metro Film Corporation, the movie executives looking out the window beheld such a mass of followers that they felt lucky to sign Bushman on for a mere thousand dollars a week.
It's easy to draw a crowd for the wrong reasons. Sometimes I think that's happened with Jesus. In our eagerness to evangelize the world we have painted a very attractive picture of Christ--who he is and what he has done. We have offered people the grace, peace and love of Christ and millions have responded. Christ has followers in every part of the globe. We have brought countless crowds of people into the church. But we also need to make them disciples.
Dear Jesus, may I help your people become your faithful disciples. Amen.