Follow Christ, Lead a Generation!

Follow Christ, Lead a Generation!

At Eagles’ Wings and the Kairos School of Ministry, one of our favorite moments in the Gospels is the moment when Jesus invited His disciples to follow Him. He did this over 2000 years ago with the apostles, and He has never stopped doing it. Jesus is inviting followers today!

What exactly did Jesus invite us into? Let’s look at His words.

Mark 1:16-18 (NKJV)  And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then Jesus said to them,“Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

If we take Jesus at His words, we find an amazing picture right in His invitation.

First, He says, “Follow Me”.  This is Jesus’ invitation to us. He’s saying to you and me something like, “I want you to take your place following after Me.” Within this statement is so much desire. He wants us to be with Him following Him. Our place, our home, our position is to be rooted and planted right behind Jesus. That’s the destination and it starts right in the invitation.

Where should you be in your life right now? Behind Jesus! What should you be doing today? You should be standing behind Jesus. Not sure what you’re calling is? Simple! It’s to walk directly behind Jesus.

Following Jesus is not a light thing. He’s not inviting us to be fans, or an audience, or onlookers. He’s inviting us to go where He goes. He’s inviting us to follow.

Today, I wonder if we get the first two words backwards. Are many Christians thinking Jesus wants to join their life? Sometimes we do that, don’t we? We start going our own direction and ask Jesus to come “bless it”. Do we invite Jesus into our heart and then hope that He’s going to come along for the ride? That’s an inverted Gospel.

The Good Gospel is that God invites us to follow after Him, lay down our plans, and go where Jesus leads us.

Next, Jesus says, “and I will make you become”. If we put Jesus in the right place, He promises to make us become something. It’s the promise of discipleship. He will disciple you. He will disciple us! He’s inviting us to follow Him into a journey of “becoming”. He wants to perform something in you. He wants to fulfill something in you. He promises to make us, by teaching us, guiding us, and instructing us. He will bind us together and make us whole. To be made to “become” something clearly implies that Jesus is going to transform us, change us, and turn us into something new!

What are we becoming? “Fishers of Men”! Jesus is talking to fishermen and tells them He will make them fishers of men. There are two amazing images that Jesus gives us with this play on words. First, Jesus is inviting His followers to be the type of people that can dive into the deep darkness of men’s souls and bring something up to the surface from the depths of man’s heart. Second, Jesus is inviting us to be “salty ones”. The word “fishers” of men, has the connotation in the Greek as “salty sailors”. He’s inviting us to be the salt of the earth – just as salt is a preserving agent for meat. Jesus invites us – if we follow Him and let Him – to make us into something, to become men and women who literally preserve the earth.

Isn’t this incredible? We are not invited by the Messiah to “change the world”. We’re invited to follow Him in SAVING IT!!!

If you liked this teaching and want more, watch this video or consider joining the Kairos School of Ministry to learn and grow in Jesus as you take up His call to “Follow Me”.

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