"Fishers of Men"
According to a recent study of
church-going American Protestants, the #1 thing that Christian churchgoers struggle
with most is sharing Christ with non-Christians.
John Wilke in August of this past year wrote an article titled, “Churchgoers Believe in
sharing faith, but most never do”.
In this article he reported on a recent study conducted by LifeWay
Research found 80 % of those who
attend church one or more times a month, believe they have a personal
responsibility to share their faith, but 61
% have not told another person about how to become a Christian in the
previous six months.
In an extensive discipleship research project
focused on measuring spiritual maturity in individuals. LifeWay Research found eight biblical attributes consistently
evident in the lives of maturing believers. Of those eight, "Sharing
Christ" has the lowest average score among Protestant church
attendees.
From the very beginning of His earthly ministry we
find Jesus exhibiting the practice of evangelism—of calling people to
Himself. And the reason He was calling
them was in part to a “job”, but more importantly Jesus was calling them to
salvation, by putting their faith and their lives in His hands. A truth that we must always keep in mind is
that if Jesus calls and we follow, He has done so not only to give something to us but as well to make something of us.
Matthew
4:18–22 (NASB95)
The First Disciples
18 Now as Jesus was
walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter,
and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets
and followed Him.
21 Going on from there He saw two
other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the
boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them.
22 Immediately they left the boat
and their father, and followed Him.
In this passage there are three
things to note for Christians:
- We're to be followers of Christ.
- We're to be fashioned by Christ.
- We're to be fishermen for Christ.
1. We’re
To Be Followers of Christ.
Jesus
spoke much about our following Him. The
word “follow” occurs over 90 times in the Gospels. Following
Christ means we make Him Lord of our daily lives, seek out His promises and
claim them, seek out His commands and obey them, and offer ourselves as living
sacrifices for Him (Rom. 12:1–2).
2.
We’re To Be Fashioned By Christ.
“...
and I will make you.” As we follow Christ, He in, on, and through our lives to be more like Him. Christ cuts away and carves into us so that we become not what we desire, but what He desires.
Illus.—A school teacher who was bypassed for a
promotion went to her administrator and complained, “I have twenty years of
experience, and you promoted someone who had only been teaching five years.”
The administrator replied, “No, you don’t have twenty years of experience. You
have one year of experience twenty times. You’re still teaching the same things
and in the same way you did your first year. You haven’t grown in your
profession.”
Christ
wants us to grow, to develop, to become effective representatives of Himself
and for Himself.
3.
We’re to be Fisherman for Christ.
“...I
will make you fishers of men.”
In
Paul’s letters, he said that those he had won to Christ were his crown and joy,
his trophies of grace. (1 Thess. 2:19-20)
When we look at the church (local) who do we see. Are there any who were outside the church and
have come in by our faithful efforts? Is
there anyone with whom we have shared Christ and seen God work in them the gift
of salvation, which is eternal life in Jesus Christ? It's not to brag, boast, or pridefully flaunt in our efforts and abilities, but rather to give glory to God that He first saved us, but also that He has chosen to use us as instruments and tools for His glory to see that others come to Him by the power of the Spirit through the person of Christ.
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