The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ (The Navigators Reference Library 1) by Bill Hull

Author:Bill Hull [Hull, Bill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Navigators
Published: 2014-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

Come and Follow Me

Text: Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:16-18

Time: 10 to 11 months

Participants: 70 to 120 consistent followers

Characteristics: Through Jesus’ teaching and example, he desired to establish followers in the priorities of the absolutes of Scripture, the importance of prayer, the need for community, and the work of outreach.

The invitation: When it was time to take his disciples to the next level of commitment, Jesus extended a second invitation to four fishermen — Andrew, Peter, James, and John: “Follow me . . . and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). He started a revolution with these simple, profound, and wise words. They provide us all of God’s wisdom on how to get others to take action. Immediately the men dropped their nets and followed.

Invitation without alienation: Jesus invited these men to follow him, but he didn’t demand anything, tell them off, or demean them. Even if they’d said, “No!” it’s unlikely Jesus would have scolded them.

In Luke 9:57-62, three men declined Jesus’ invitation to follow him. Based on Jesus’ response to the first man, it seems he required some assurance that Jesus would provide lodging and meals. The second man wanted to go bury his father, a way of saying, “I can’t do it now, but maybe later, when the timing is right.” The third man had every intention of following, but first wanted to say good-bye to his family. Jesus recognized these as good excuses, but still just excuses for not saying yes.

We can presume that Jesus didn’t brood over people who said no to him. And certainly he invested himself fully in those who said yes. People who followed Jesus couldn’t be consumed with concerns of eating, sleeping, lodging, or geographic stability. They’d understand that the main agenda was proclaiming the kingdom of God. And they wouldn’t look back, but choose to go forward together with no regrets.

A successful invitation: Jesus gave the disciples an invitation rather than a demand, and he didn’t alienate those who eliminated themselves. You can’t make a case for being left out if you choose to opt out of an opportunity. This is the genius of Jesus’ method. Think of how many churches and ministries have split when the leader oversold the opportunity and then demeaned those who didn’t want to participate as unspiritual or unwise. Jesus’ way shows us how to motivate appropriately and how to appeal to others to commit to following Jesus.

“Follow me” was personal. Joining a program has such a different feel from “Join me and we’ll work and live together.” The latter offers relationship, closeness of fellowship, and friendship. The power of friendship is a primary motivation for participating in ministry.

When you ask people about their dearest friends, you’ll often hear stories of how they’ve gone through challenges together. Some of the best stories about deep relationships come from people who went through war together, who achieved an impossible athletic goal together, who built something together, or who went through something horrific together. People create a special bond when they launch out into the abyss as a team to attempt the impossible.

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