I Will Make You Fishers of Men

In Matthew 4:19 we have the somewhat famous words of Jesus to Simon and Andrew, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  This call seems to set the tone for the call of Jesus on the lives of all the disciples.

My thinking here is that our mission as followers of Jesus is to participate with Him as He calls people into the kingdom of heaven.  I say this because just prior to the calling of Simon and Andrew we read, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand;” (Matt 4:17). 

As His witnesses it seems to me that a great part of the process of witnessing is to be with people in such away as to reveal to them how pertinent, applicable, germane, significant, and important Jesus is their lives. 

John Wesley caught this in his words, “The Church has nothing to do but save souls.”  Furthermore, Wesley understood the nature of the mission when he expressed, “The church changes the world not by making converts but by making disciples” (see Matt. 28:19-20).

What we proclaim is, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  We proclaim this because Jesus said, “He who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24).

So it is that the Church in the opening years of the third millennium prays and loves and serves and worships and witnesses and evangelizes and teaches and baptizes and, in the process of it all makes first, converts, and then of those converts, disciples. 

The church is on a mission because the kingdom of God is at hand, and Jesus is calling people into that kingdom. 

It might be good to remember here that in Matthew 6:10 Jesus taught His disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come.”  Then, 23 verses later He gives the Word, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33).  Why are people called on to repent?  Because “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17). 

We are called to turn away from our old world view and to turn to Christ, to “repent” if you would.   Once we have turned to Christ the call then becomes to follow Him.  Following Him takes us to that place of inviting others to do the same.  It also takes us to the place of seeking the kingdom of God first and foremost in all things.

As His followers we take seriously the implications of God’s kingdom being at hand.  We pray, “Your kingdom come.”  We seek His kingdom as we live in the world. As we follow Jesus it becomes clearer and clearer that Mr. Wesley was correct, “The church changes the world not by making converts but by making disciples.”  The saving of souls is a huge matter but it doesn’t stop there.  It starts a journey and brings people to the point of choosing to follow Jesus now that they are “saved,” to go forward into a relationship of true discipleship. 

Let us go deeper and deeper into the things of Jesus.  May our relationship with Him become so vital that it becomes the most important relationship in our lives.  May our love for Him and our zeal to follow Him take us deeper and deeper into our relationship with God.  Also,  may our passion, as the Church of Jesus, be to take people beyond conversion into a deep, personal, and Christ-centered life of being fully committed to Jesus. 

This is what Paul seems to mean in 2 Timothy 2:2 when he told that young pastor, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” Here we see a line of progression that leads to discipleship and it has been unfolding for twenty centuries now.  In time Paul would die, but because he took people into the deeper level of discipleship, when he died others would step up and fill his shoes and keep the Gospel alive.  The unfolding of the Gospel and the influence of the kingdom would not skip a beat because the “converts” had been discipled into maturity

“Follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  From conversion to disciples to fishers of men to equippers of the next generation.  On and on it goes.  It all starts with Jesus saying to people, “Follow Me.”  If they do it, they will have signed up for the ride of their lives, and the seeds of the process of taking the Gospel into the next generation will be planted.  On and on it goes.  Jesus will build his church and the gates of Hades will not be able to overpower it.