Mark 4:36 (or, who is your main teacher?)

And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
Mark 4:36

As previously stated by the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:6, 16:11-12, Mark 4:34), God only speaks in parables.   Thus, the entire Bible is made of parables, and refers to the  heavenly world as the main meaning, merely using vocabulary from this world.

The ships are churches.

Jesus Christ has a direct congregation of spirits in heaven
(Hebrews 12:22 – end)

Those who worship Jesus Christ directly, by memorizing His Word (all the Bible) and by depending on the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:17)  (or, supper with Him, all the Bible = bread, the wine = Holy Spirit  I Corinthians 12:13, Matthew 26:26-27),  these are directly in the doctrine of Jesus Christ, which is the entire Bible, Jesus Christ’s heart and mind written out in words.

Those who depend on a human Christian teacher, or on the particular doctrines of a denomination, or on obeying a human pastor or obeying a church on earth,  these are them who are following Jesus on a ship led by men.

If the men in it steer the ship well, then they follow Jesus to destination, which is Heaven.
If the men in it steer the ship wrong (if the pastor himself becomes ungodly, or get an evil conscience where he wants to get himself admired, rather than get Jesus admired – such are most American pastors, and most pastors of large congregations, they become that way), then they shipwreck their faith (I Timothy 1:19)
and the congregation live ungodly (live = how they live every day, not merely on Sunday), and they drown themselves in the torrents of lust and evil thoughts (I Timothy6:9).

So people ought not to depend on their human pastor so much.
But look at Psalm 23:1, “The LORD is my Pastor”.
God is the main pastor, and in every Christian’s life, God is always the chief pastor/shepherd.
Have Christian respect for the human pastor, but beware, every human can get corrupted, especially if you praise him or give attention.

People ought to have Jesus Christ as their main teacher, and listen to human pastor only if the human pastor is godly, and teach according to Jesus.

But never have a human pastor as your main teacher, or the particular doctrines of a denomination.

You should memorize the entire Bible (provided, it’s an accurate translation.  In English, it’s KJV), pray with Holy Spirit, and then you are directly taught by Jesus.

The difference between a mere follower of Jesus Christ, and a disciple of Jesus Christ.

A disciple of Jesus Christ memorizes the Bible, pray to God often in a day, and has Jesus Christ as the main teacher.   A disciple of Jesus Christ can listen or read other teachers, but he knows Jesus Christ is always the chief pastor (Psalm 23:1), and by the Holy Spirit, he can notice errors in human teaching, so he doesn’t blindly follow any human teacher, but his main teacher is Christ (or, the Scriptures).

A follower of Jesus Christ has faith in Christ, but hasn’t yet learned to get near to Christ, and depends on a human teacher more than directly depending on Christ.