Distance

You want to read a pathetic passage of Scripture?

Matthew 26:58a - "But Peter followed from a distance."

Just hours before, Peter promised he would keep following Jesus no matter what the other guys did; no matter the cost to himself (Matthew 26:35). But when his resolve was tested, he followed from a distance.

I've spent a lot of my life following Jesus, but doing it from a distance. Close enough to Jesus that I'm "technically" following Him, but far enough away that I blend in with everyone else.

Distance following is dangerous because distance puts us on a slippery slope to denial. At the end of verse 58, Peter stops following altogether. By verse 69, he is in active denial.

When the risk seems to high to follow closely, the potential cost will eventually be too great to follow at all. We think we're playing it safe by following at a distance, but the reality isn't safe at all.