Invitation and Challenge

A discipleship reflection by Phil Ratcliff, Senior leader, Brockley Community Church. 

“Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

In that one sentence, Jesus both gives an invitation to follow him, and a challenge to grow, and the disciples heard it and responded.

If Jesus had only said, “Come, follow me”, I think they might have responded and gone along with him to see what he did and what happened. It would have been interesting to be there as he taught, healed, engaged in debate with the Pharisees and religious elite, but it would have been a spectator sport. Anyone who likes sport knows that watching your favourite team can be entertaining and frustrating, but ultimately you have little or no influence over the outcome of the match – you are a spectator who is on the sidelines whilst the main action happens on the pitch. Jesus didn’t invite the disciples just to spectate but he did invite them into relationship with him.

If Jesus had only said, “I will make you fishers of men”, all that the disciples would have heard was that this was a work-based assignment. It speaks simply of activity and action but without any relational investment. Yes, Jesus would have taught them how to speak to people, how to pray for them, how to answer people’s questions and defend their actions, but it would have been done almost exclusively on the basis of what the results would have been. Being ‘fishers of men’ related directly to their experience of being fishermen, and they knew what hard graft that was. It was a lot of effort with sometimes no results (unless they listened to Jesus’ instruction to fish on the other side of the boat!)

Following Jesus involves invitation and challenge. If we only listen to the invitation we can get very comfortable, settled, and somewhat spiritually unfit. If we only listen to the challenge we can get worn out, frustrated and spiritually empty. If we listen to neither we can very quickly lose our way and wander off, but if we listen and respond to both the invitation and the challenge, we find rest and spiritual keenness, comfort and exercise, restoration and adventure.

What is Jesus’ invitation and challenge to you?