Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
-Mark 1:17
Anyone who's read their share of comic books knows that super-heroes don't acquire their super-powers by going to the gym or going to super-hero school. They get them through a transforming experience. For Superman, it was going from a planet with a red sun to one with a yellow sun. For Spiderman, it was a bite from a radioactive spider.Christians get super-powers from their transforming experience with Jesus Christ. Let's walk through this verse backwards to focus on one particular Christian super-power: the ability to make disciples.
"...fishers of men."
The people Jesus was speaking to at the time were fishers of fish. They didn't go fishing on weekends or when the weather was nice. It was their livelihood. They thought about, planned, talked about and worked at fishing all the time. Fishing was in their bones.Jesus directly related the disciples' identities as fishers of fish to the new identities that awaited them in Him. The implication is that fishing for men would assume the same place in their lives that fishing for fish had. They would be constantly thinking about it, planning it and doing it. They would be consumed by it. It wouldn't just be something they did sometimes when they were so inclined. It would become a part of their very identities as people.
"...I will make you..."
This means that Jesus Himself will perform this transformation in the lives of His disciples. It is not an optional extra credit assignment. It is an aspect of their new nature that He clearly declares He will bring about. That doesn't mean that all Christians are called to be full-time evangelists. But it does imply that we are all to be soul winners. When we receive His love, we want to share it with others. We are filled with a confidence and joy that attracts others. We become by our very nature the bait that draws people-fish into the net of Christ.
"Follow me..."
But none of this happens if we don't follow Him. Obedience is the prerequisite for transformation. He didn't say "believe" or "pray," even though those are also very important things. He said "follow." And that's exactly what those first disciples did. They immediately and radically followed Jesus -- and went on to initiate the greatest fishing expedition in all of history!
Are we ready to do the same? Are we content to simply be "believers" who mentally assent to the fact of Jesus's birth, crucifixion and resurrection? Or are we ready to follow as well? Are we willing to obey and fulfill the Great Commission?
Well then let's go fishing!
