02 Feb Great Followers
Read: Luke 5:1-11
What we know of Simon Peter, the fisherman-turned-apostle, is that he was brash, zealous, impulsive, strong-willed and, at times, spoke before he thought through what he should say. He was a common, imperfect man and on one unlikely day, a spiritual teacher in Israel asked to borrow his boat as a platform to preach a sermon.
Everything changed that day.
One can debate the moment that Peter recognized the Messiah and decided to forsake all to follow Him. It does not seem to be the moment he first met Jesus or even when the Lord got into his boat and asked him to push it out a little way from the shore so that the crowd could hear Him. Perhaps the sermon Jesus preached was not enough to convince Peter because he still tried to reason with the Lord when Jesus told him to cast his net again. It may even be possible that Peter was not fully prepared to abandon all after the miraculous catch of fish. I believe it was, instead, hearing the words of the immortal, all-powerful, source of life Himself say two little words: “Follow Me.”
As much as this great military ministry needs great leaders, we need great followers. We need people who hear the Lord’s voice when they connect with a ministry center and make a decision to commit and serve there. It must be a heart conviction that they are following the voice and will of Christ Himself and not just following the man and woman of God or, worse, just “attending services” whenever it is convenient.
There is not a leader amongst us whose heart does not pine thinking, “Oh Lord, what we could accomplish if we had just a few faithful, completely sold-out people!” This standardized Western church experience must be replaced with committed Kingdom followership if we are to make the eternal impact, and the authentic disciples, that Christ intends for us to make.