Follow Me

Open your Bible to Matthew chapter 4.

This week, I did some research and I found who the top social media influencers are.

You know, in the past, our society was obsessed with “celebrities.” Each generation had its heartthrob or super athlete or movie star. My generation—Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Britney Spears…some of y’all—in your imagination—were married to every member of the New Kids on the Block.

Now, though, we’ve switched from “celebrities” to “influencers.” Everybody has their own social media accounts with followers. They’re paid spokespersons for products. And, now that they have the reach of social media, we don’t just READ about our favorite celebrities, we can FOLLOW them.

1) Cristiano Ronaldo (787 million)

2) Selena Gomez (you’re one of 499 million)

3) Kylie Jenner (450 million)

4) Kim Kardashian (450 million)

5) Dwayne Johnson (435 million)

6) Taylor Swift (a measly 408 million)

Now, how many of you have bought something or watched something/consumed a product because the influencers you follow were pushing/promoting it? THE POINT: Social media influencers aim to do just that—influence. Influence you to think a certain way, fight for certain causes, buy certain products. Sometimes these are good things and sometimes they’re not.

We are “influenced” by who we follow.

Recap — 12 week series on what it means to be a “disciple” of Jesus Christ. Not just the 12 guys who followed Him. We are called (???) to be disciples.

What is a disciple? A fully devoted follower of Jesus who is developing into Christlikeness and who lives sent on Jesus’ mission to make more disciples.

Matthew 4:18–22 (ESV)

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

We spent the first two weeks of this series in John chapter 1 and we saw the first two “invitations” ::

1) Hear & Believe (the invitation to hear the gospel, repent, and believe in Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world).

2) Come & See (the invitation into deeper relationship with Jesus to learn from Him, abide in Him, and become like Him).

The third invitation of discipleship is FOLLOW ME.

Literally, “come after me.” So, the second invitation is “come and see.” The third is “come after me.”

The invitation to “Follow Jesus” demands (a strong word but an appropriate word) 3 primary things:

Complete Devotion

Now, if you’ve been with us the last two weeks, you’ve seen the progression of invitations and it may seem as if this passage in Matthew 4 is the first time Jesus encountered Andrew, Peter, James, and John.

Most NT scholars believe that about a year or so has passed since Andrew, particularly, first heard John the Baptist testify about Jesus and Jesus invited him to “come and see.” They’ve started leaning in a little more closely to Jesus.

But, they’ve kept fishing. They’re still tied to this family business. But…now, Jesus is bringing them to a crossroads. They couldn’t do both. They couldn’t be fully devoted to Jesus AND be fully devoted to their old way of life.

What does it mean to be fully devoted? Now, I don’t want to get into semantics or parsing words, here, but there is a difference between “commitment” and “devotion.”

Here’s the major difference—commitment involves time, space, and energy. Devotion involves love.

What is it that you need to drop? Is there something in your life that is keeping you from being fully devoted? Something in your past? You need to leave it.

Peter and Andrew “left” their nets. James and John “left” their boat. What would this have cost them?

Now…is Jesus calling you to quit your job? Leave everything? Maybe. What if God is calling you into the mission field? Into full time ministry?

The point is—JESUS’S AUTHORITY BRINGS DISRUPTION TO THEIR WAY OF LIFE

Full Submission

“I will make you…”

In other words, what Jesus is saying is— “I’m going to take you just as you are. You follow me. And I’m going to change you into who I want you to be.” Change/Transformation

This requires submission. Full submission to Jesus. Whatever he wants. Again, this is his authority. To follow Jesus means to submit to him in every way. He is Lord. He is king.

These young men had spent their whole lives being “made” into fishermen. They were being shaped and trained to take on the family business. Now, Jesus is saying “I’m going to train you and shape you into something else.”

Their part was to “come and follow.” Jesus’ part is to “make” or “re-create.”

Luke 6:40 ESV

A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Discipleship in every aspect of your life.

Many professing Christians have applied a “tithe principle” to their lives. What do I mean by that? Well, what is a tithe? It’s a 1/10 of something. We think about tithe as what we bring monetarily, right? Most Christians make a practicing of “tithing” 10% of their income. But, unfortunately, many Christians also apply this principle to their lives—God can have a percentage.

Listen to me—God doesn’t want to be Lord of just 10% of your income. If we’re saved then we understand that He owns ALL of it. It ALL belongs to Him. Same thing with our lives.

Back to “fully devoted”—we’re not fully devoted if Jesus only gets a certain percentage of our time/life.

Urgency of Purpose

First, there is a purpose. “Fishers of men…”

Then, there is an urgency. The purpose is urgent. “Immediately...” There is no hesitation. They rush to obey him. They didn’t question him. In fact, we’re given the image that they didn’t even haul in their catch.

In the OT (Jeremiah 16, Ezekiel 47, Amos 4), God uses the metaphor of sending “fishermen” to catch his people and deliver divine judgment on them. Now, Jesus is saying that he is reversing this and that the new fishermen will deliver people from divine judgment.

The day of the Lord is coming.

John Piper—we hear so much about Christians caring about suffering in the world. What about eternal suffering?

Everyone knows someone who doesn’t know Jesus. We are surrounded by “fish.” Pike Road is exploding in growth. Montgomery is filled with people who don’t know Christ.

Fishers of Men = “Rescuers from Hell”

I read a story this week about a team of Navy SEALS who were sent on a covert rescue operation in hostile territory. The SEAL team entered into a compound where hostages had been held for months in a dark and filthy room. The hostages were curled up in a corner, terrified. When the SEALs entered the room, they heard the gasps of the hostages. They stood at the door and called to the prisoners, telling them they were Americans. The SEALs asked the hostages to follow them, but the hostages wouldn’t. They sat there on the floor and hid their eyes in fear. They were not of healthy mind and didn’t believe their rescuers were really Americans.

The SEALs stood there, not knowing what to do. They couldn’t possibly carry everybody out. One of the SEALs, the folksinger’s friend, got an idea. He put down his weapon, took off his helmet, and curled up tightly next to the other hostages, getting so close his body was touching some of theirs. He softened the look on his face and put his arms around them. He was trying to show them he was one of them. None of the prison guards would have done this. He stayed there for a little while until some of the hostages started to look at him, finally meeting his eyes. The Navy SEAL whispered that they were American and were there to rescue them. Will you follow us? he said. The hero stood to his feet and one of the hostages did the same, then another, until all of them were willing to go. The story ends with all the hostages safe on an American aircraft carrier.

(https://thisjourneyismyown.com/2010/03/22/following-jesus-the-best-illustration-ive-ever-read/)

The GREAT COMMISSION is the GREAT RESCUE MISSION.

CONCLUSION

This is the moment when the kingdom community is born to begin the missional task of reaching the world with the gospel. The driving force of this invitation to follow Jesus is God’s deep love for sinners and His desire to reconcile them to Himself.

Is this for all Christians or just for these 12? We used to have a member here at this church that would argue with me that the Great Commission, for example, was only for the disciples. I don’t know about you but I’m eternally grateful that there were people in my life who took seriously the call to Follow Jesus and be made by him into fishers of men…because they fished for me.

Next Step

1) Have you fully surrendered your life to Jesus? I’m not talking about keeping a checklist of things Christians are “supposed to do.” But…are you all in? This is what it means to be “born again.” Some of you, I’m afraid to say, have been playing a game—a very dangerous game. Eternity is too serious of a matter. Be born again.

2) Believer—what nets/boats do you need to leave? Drop? What is keeping you from being fully devoted to Jesus? You’re hearing Jesus say “Follow me.” Are you?

3) Who, in your life, doesn’t know Jesus? Maybe you struggle with this area of discipleship. Maybe you are unsure or just disobedient when it comes to sharing the gospel. Maybe your heart isn’t as burdened for the lost as it should be.

Jesus, make me a fisher of men. Shape me. Teach me. Give me your heart.