Some truths don’t show up in prayer or deep study.
They sneak up on you in the front seat of a car — like they did for me in 2005, driving home from my son’s first cross-country race in Jacksonville.
It was just the boys — two hours of windshield time with my son Bryan, who was still young enough to think I was one of the smartest people alive, but old enough to start testing that theory. We were swapping brain games and word riddles, trying to outsmart each other.
I gave him one I knew would trip him up:
“Say the word ‘tin’ ten times fast.”
“Now say the word ‘ten’ ten times fast.”
“Now spell both words.”
“Now tell me: What are aluminum cans made of?”
Bryan answered confidently: “Tin!”
I burst out laughing — not at the answer, but at how certain he was.
Still confused, he doubled down:
“I said ‘Tin,’ not *‘Ten!’”
That only made me laugh harder — to the point of tears, until our faces cramped and our bellies hurt.
Then, like a bolt of lightning flashing through the fog — it hit him:
“Wait… aluminum cans are made of… aluminum.”
And right there, in the front seat of the car, I realized:
How often do we miss what’s right in front of us — simply because we’ve been trained to focus on the wrong thing?
What’s the Most Important Part?
Not long after that drive, I asked a question at one of our church gatherings:
“What’s the most important part of being a follower of Jesus?”
The responses were familiar:
- Obedience
- Holiness
- Surrender
- Loving God
- Faith
All good answers. But no one said what seemed painfully obvious:
The most important part of following Jesus… is actually following Jesus.
It’s one of those answers that sounds too simple — like Bryan shouting “tin!” with full confidence. We’ve heard so much theology, so much religious instruction, that we miss what’s been staring at us all along.
What I Was Handed
I grew up in church. Great people. Lots of Bible. But the version of Christianity I inherited came with a formula:
– Believe in Jesus. Be good. Avoid sin. Read your Bible. Try harder.
– And if you do it right, God will bless your life now and take you to heaven later.
– Also, make sure to witness — even if it’s awkward and you’re terrible at it.
Jesus was central to my belief system.
But honestly? He felt more like a moral standard than a living King. A requirement, not a Companion.
And witnessing? I never led anyone to Christ.
I wasn’t inviting them to life with Jesus — I was inviting them into a checklist.
The Invitation That Changed Everything
Then one day, I actually heard His words again:
“Follow Me.”
That was it. Not “believe harder.” Not “get better.” Just… follow.
Something shifted. I began to hear the invitation beneath the words. And it was both refreshing and exhilarating.
It wasn’t about living good enough to get into heaven.
He spoke of Kingdoms that could be experienced but not seen.
He described a kind of life that was beyond imagination — and yet grounded in the here and now.
He said the door to that life was death to self.
He talked about sacrifice. About love that would lay itself down for its friends.
He lived as though people mattered.
He was mystical and earthy, truthful and tender — nothing like the religious culture I had grown up in.
And the best part?
He knew who I was — all I had done, good and bad — and still invited me to follow.
How could I turn that down?
Why So Many Miss It
I think Satan likes to keep us in the realm of parsing religious language and spiritual systems
– debating the difference between “tin” and “ten,”
– arguing “grace vs. law,”
– splitting hairs over eschatology and moral trends.
Maybe it’s because he knows what we’ve forgotten — or never really learned:
That the only people who can actually change the world and bring light into darkness are the ones who truly walk with Jesus.
If he can keep us focused on improving ourselves, polishing our theology, or performing the right behaviors, he never has to worry about us bringing real hope to those he’s intent on destroying.
Because maybe — just maybe — to follow Jesus is greater than the sum of all the other things combined.
What Changed in Me
So I said yes.
And I stopped trying to be a “better Christian” — and just started following Him.
Slowly, something began to shift:
- I wasn’t trying to be holy — but I found myself becoming more like Him.
- I wasn’t trying to evangelize — but people started asking questions.
- I wasn’t chasing spiritual success — but I finally felt free.
The more I followed Jesus, the more I realized most of what I had been chasing… was just tin. It looked spiritual. It sounded Christian. But it wasn’t the thing.
A Life Actually Lived
And yeah — if I die before the Lord returns, I’ll go to heaven. But that’s not the point.
The point is that I’ll have actually lived.
Fully. Freely. Open-handed. Here. Now.
And maybe — just maybe — when it’s all said and done, someone will say:
“He looked and acted a lot like Jesus.”
Not because I mastered a system. But because I walked with the King.
So What About You?
Have you made following Jesus more complicated than it was ever meant to be?
Have you traded the Person for the process?
Maybe it’s time to stop chasing tin…and start following the One who was always right in front of you.
