Daniel 3:14

"Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up" Daniel 3:14

In this world there are leaders and there are followers. Almost every human can be considered one or the other. Of course there are a few exceptions, those who are total loners, emotionally cut of from other people. These are the oddballs of society who tend to be destructive. But let's concentrate on the first two categories.

We can all think examples of each. Most presidents come to mind as leaders. The great evangelists of our days and past ages also fit the bill for this category. Perhaps you are a leader. But then, if we watch most leaders carefully, we find they are followers as well. They follow greater leaders. They pattern themselves after great leaders of the past. So, it could be said that great leaders are great followers.

Let's take a look at followers for a moment. These are the backbone of our societies. They can be compared to the "worker ants" of the insect world. They go about their business working under the direction of the leaders. Without them all the leadership ability in the world would be fruitless. Workers, it could be argued, are more important than leaders. Then again, without direction, workers become destructive. They are incapable of making decisions for themselves, therefore, after the instinctive work is accomplished, they cannot find other things to do and the assembly line of life grinds to a predictable halt.

The world cannot do without either one of these types of people. But, we can also see that out of the ranks of the workers, the followers, comes leaders. Take our three friends in today's verse for examples. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego started out as followers. It was Daniel who insisted on eating vegetables instead of the rich foods from the king's table. Daniel was the leader; our three stars were the followers. But along the way they learned a few things from Daniel. They learned to stand up for what they believed. They learned what it meant to pick their fights. They learned what the important things in life were and they learned their lesson well. When it came time to follow the evil dictated by their enemies in order to save their lives, they lead in the direction of God's holiness, even though it meant certain death in the fiery furnace.

Most of us can be classified as followers. We have put ourselves under the authority of spiritual leaders who see to it that we are fed from the Word of God, watered from the "well that never runs dry," and protected from the onslaughts of the enemy. But, most of us are also leaders. We lead our families in the ways of the King. We lead our co-workers by the lives we live on the job. We lead our friends in paths of righteousness when we refuse to wander into the paths of iniquity they might try to tempt us to follow. And, as we lead our small groups, we gain the confidence necessary to lead larger assemblies. This is the nature of leaders and followers. Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.