This post is a contribution to the August synchroblog.  The theme is "Follow" and bloggers are invited to share their thoughts and ideas about what it means to follow Jesus.

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My journey of following Jesus led me to a point where I had to completely start over. Some real life stuff came along and made me take a closer look at what I believed about God, following Jesus, Christianity, the Bible, the church etc. and I realized that most of the stuff that I had been so devoted to ... attending church, listening to sermons, reading the bible, witnessing, maintaining the church building, adding to church membership ... didn't seem to have much to do with following Jesus.

In recent years I have come to think that following Jesus is more about justice and love than about church and believing - more about community than about me getting into heaven - more about people than about institutions or buildings.

Starting over hasn't been easy. It has often meant enduring criticism, rejection and loneliness. But from where I sit I can't see that there was another way for me.  I had to let go of all the preconceived ideas, religious dogma and conventional wisdom in order to get a fresh look at Jesus, his mission and his message.

These days following Jesus for me is about accepting the call to follow Jesus into the world as an agent of the Kingdom of Heaven - working to bring the way of heaven to earth.

Sometimes that is as simple as sharing a meal with someone and sometimes it is as complex as working to dismantle an unjust system.

In the beginning of my journey of following Jesus I thought the main questions were "who is going to heaven and who is going to hell?" but now I think the main questions are "how can I bring heaven to earth and how can I participate with God to bring restoration to the world?"

The humorist Garrison Keillor said "give up your good Christian life and follow Jesus" and that is what I feel like I have had to do.

These days I am more committed to following Jesus than any other time in my life and yet I'm not a member of a church and I don't often read the bible. My worship of God usually comes in the form of working for justice, and serving and loving others rather than singing songs in church while clapping or raising my hands. I don't care about converting people to Christianity but I do want to influence people to live in a loving and generous way. I am interested in cultivating my faith to be a bridge that connects me to others rather than a barrier that separates me from those who don't profess to be followers of Jesus.

I certainly do not think that I have arrived anywhere and on any given day I would be hard pressed to even tell you where I am going ... but for now I am trying to follow Jesus where he leads me even if that means giving up my good Christian life.