When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon.
Mark 3:8
From all over the place, people were coming to see Jesus. Why? Because somehow, people sensed he was different.
He was someone worth following.
That phrase makes me think about being worth following, which makes me think about times I found out that I’d let down people who were under my leadership. Particularly, the time I didn’t realize a young protege had seen me as a hero until after I’d let him down.
He was young, passionate about church, and seemed to love Jesus. I tried to mentor him. I encouraged his gifts, gave him opportunities to serve, and talked with him about what it means to follow Jesus beyond Sunday experiences.
But over time, I noticed something. His love for church didn’t seem to be changing his everyday life. Crude humor. Mean spiritedness. No boundaries. A gap between the Jesus he praised on Sundays and the life he lived Monday through Saturday.
I tried to address it gently. Maybe too gently. Or maybe not gently enough. I honestly don’t know.
After I left that position, I heard he’d spoken negatively about me. He wasn’t really harsh, but just dismissive. I suppose I’d failed him in ways I didn’t understand and still don’t.
To this day, I couldn’t say what I did wrong. Maybe I pushed too hard. Maybe I didn’t push hard enough. Maybe he needed something from me I didn’t know how to give.
What I do know is this: I wasn’t the hero he was looking for. I was just a flawed person trying to help another flawed person follow Jesus. And somewhere in that mess, I disappointed him.
I began to realize I’d put too much on my role as mentor—just as I had once put too much on my role as a protégé, looking to others for heroism.
Michael Franzese thought his father was his hero, until the night he learned otherwise.
Michael had been called in for a meeting with the caporegimes, or captains, of the Colombo crime family. He didn’t understand why. He was making record profits for the family. What Michael didn’t realize was that he was doing too well. His rapid rise in power threatened others, and loyalty, above all else, was the unspoken rule of the Cosa Nostra.
Still, Michael felt confident. His father, Sonny Franzese, had been a loyal underboss in the Colombo family for decades. Sonny’s influence was legendary, and Michael believed that loyalty extended to him.
The meeting went better than expected. The captains were suspicious, but as Michael realized they didn’t plan to kill him, he began to relax.
On the drive home, Michael’s driver, a longtime friend, hesitated before speaking. “Michael, I need to tell you something, and it’s important.”
“What?”
His friend said, “Your father threw you under.”
Sonny had been willing to let the capos kill his own son.
That true-life moment shattered Michael’s world. It was the beginning of the end of his life in organized crime.
Michael Franzese realized his hero worship of his father was misguided, but it would take years for him to discover someone worthy of being his hero. While reading the Bible in prison, Michael discovered someone truly worthy of admiration. Reflecting on his transformation, Michael said:
“The heroism of my life kind of transferred from my father to Jesus. I was enamored with the personality of Jesus, the character of Jesus as a man. The sacrifice that he made for all of us really meant a lot to me.”[i]
Michael Franzese’s father failed him catastrophically. He was willing to sacrifice his son to maintain power. I failed someone more subtly, unable to bridge the gap between his expectations and my limitations.
Both stories reveal that human heroes will disappoint.
The more you compare the story of Jesus with other stories, the more incredible he gets. He wasn’t like other leaders. He didn’t use his gifts for personal gain or manipulate people for power. Instead, he served others with humility, love, and integrity. His words aligned perfectly with his actions, and his miracles revealed the power of God’s kingdom.
We’re all drawn to heroes—those who inspire us and model the kind of life we want to live. But no human hero can compare to Jesus. His life, his teachings, and his sacrifice show us what true worthiness looks like.
Making Jesus your hero may start with admiration and a desire to emulate, as it did with Michael Franzese, but as you put you trust in him, you will begin to discover it becomes much more.
One sign you’re following Jesus, not just as one of the crowd but with conviction, is that your status quo begins to change. What once mattered—things like status, wealth, or others’ approval—fades into the background. What once seemed less important—things like integrity, humility, and serving others—takes center stage.
Following Jesus is about more than admiration and emulation. Becoming more like Jesus begins when Jesus begins to take over. The transformation you seek doesn’t come from your effort and it doesn’t end with imitation. Your very nature begins to change. Following him disrupts your life, but you will begin to find yourself full of peace, purpose, and joy.
You will also discover that the strange thing about putting your trust in Jesus is that it doesn’t pull you out of human community. It makes human community possible again.
For a time in my life, my hope was tied to mentor and protégé relationships—first when I was a protégé, and later when I became a mentor. When I put my faith in those relationships, every disappointment led to a little death.
But when I fully trusted Jesus, something shifted. The same people who would still let me down were no longer carrying the weight that wasn’t theirs to carry. I could stay close because I no longer expected the impossible from them, or them from me.
Jesus doesn’t ask you to find someone who won’t fail you. He asks you to trust the One who has never failed anyone—and from that foundation, to risk loving the rest of us anyway.
Lord, thank you for being the One who is truly worthy of my trust and devotion. Help me to let go of false heroes and distractions, even if they’re close to me, and to follow you with my whole heart. Teach me what it means to live a life worthy of you. Amen.
[i] “God Is The Healer Of All Wounds: Michael Franzese & Michele Wilbur-Christiansen”, Jesus Calling, https://www.jesuscalling.com/podcast/god-is-the-healer-of-all-wounds-michael-franzese-michele-wilbur-christiansen/
The More Like Jesus series is a story-driven journey through the Gospel of Mark and our own spiritual formation. Staying close to Jesus changes who we become.
Learn more about book 1, The Way to Begin Again, and pre-order today.
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