The Great Invitation

As Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew, casting a net into the water, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men' (Matthew 4:18-19). That short sentence is one of the great invitations of all time, and it is still being offered today. Jesus is inviting you to follow him, to let him be your Lord, your Master, the One who leads your life.

And this invitation is not only for people who already consider themselves religious. It is made to all — not just to Christians, but to everyone. So the question is simple and personal: have you accepted it? Have you actually decided to follow Jesus?

Following is more than believing

Here is something that may surprise you. This is not the same as asking whether you are born again. Many people have believed in Jesus and are born again, and yet are not truly following him. Not everyone who is born again is following Jesus. But everyone who genuinely decides to follow Jesus will, in time, become born again.

How can you tell whether you have accepted the invitation? A follower is someone who keeps asking, 'Lord Jesus, what do you want me to do about this?' That is very different from merely keeping a set of rules you read in a book, even a good book, whether the Bible, a church guideline, or your favorite Christian author. It is a living relationship, not a rulebook. Many of us, if we are honest, are following our emotions, following what makes sense to us, following how we feel — rather than following him.

So Jesus is inviting you to follow him. Will you say yes? And notice this freeing truth: you do not have to have your whole life sorted out first. None of the disciples who said yes were saved at the moment they said it. Something simply told them that their lives would be better if they went with him. The same quiet nudge may be on you right now.

Yes, Lord — then Help me, Lord

But the moment you make that decision, the moment you say, 'Yes, Lord, I will follow you,' you discover something almost immediately: your willpower is not enough. What an irony. Jesus wants you to use your will to say yes, and then, five seconds later, he wants you to realize that the very thing you just agreed to is something you cannot do in your own strength.

And that is exactly the point, because then he says, 'Don't worry, that part is mine. I will make you.' So our response to Jesus is really two responses held together: 'Yes, Lord,' and then 'Help me, Lord.' Remember Peter stepping out to walk on water, and then beginning to sink and crying out for help. Remember the disciples in the boat, terrified as they tried to cross the sea. Every time you say 'Yes, Lord,' sooner or later you will also need to say 'Help me, Lord.'

The trouble is that many of us are crying 'Help me' without ever having said 'Yes.' Why? Because we have the order backward. We imagine we are saved because we follow Jesus. No — we are saved in order to follow him. You are saved to follow Jesus; you do not follow Jesus in order to be saved. Only Jesus changes people. Only he can change your spouse, only he can change your boss, only he can change your business partner, only he can change you. Will you let him? Then cry out, 'Help me, Lord' — but say it after you have first said yes.

And how does he help you? He gives you the Holy Spirit, who is our Helper. Look at Luke 5, where Jesus tells Peter to launch out into the deep for a catch. Peter did not ask, Lord, what should I do about my business today? Jesus came to him in mercy and told him what to do. Peter argued at first, but because he had already committed to follow, he did it anyway. The only reason he attempted such a thing was that he sensed Jesus wanted it. When was the last time the only reason you did something was that you believed the Master wanted it, and not because it made sense to you? So often we sense his leading, then go ask enough people that they talk us out of it. That catch of fish broke Peter, and he fell down crying, 'Master, I am a sinful man; help me to follow you.' That is how Jesus changes us — we come to him and say, I am undeserving, but please, help me.

He makes us together, not alone

Two things are worth noticing about that promise, 'I will make you.' The first is that in the original it is plural: I will make you all. Jesus' work of transformation happens in community, alongside others who have made the same decision to say 'Yes, Lord' and 'Help me, Lord.' It is impossible for Jesus to work on you entirely alone; he works on you in the company of other believers. That is why he called twelve. If I am going to follow Jesus, I have to decide to do it together with the people God has placed around me. There is no other way.

The second thing is this: how you live is not what makes you a disciple. What or who you are following is what makes you a disciple. Someone can live like a disciple, talk like a disciple, even walk like a disciple, and still not be one, because he is only following rules rather than living in a relationship. Discipleship is about who has your heart, not merely how you behave.

An invitation to co-labor

There is one more layer to the invitation. The whole point of following Jesus and letting him change you is so that you can join him in his mission. As Robert Coleman wrote in The Master's Plan for Evangelism, the methods of Jesus were just as inspired as his message. The way Jesus did things was as divinely guided as the things he said. So do not only listen to his words; watch his ways. Jesus himself said, 'Learn of me.'

And his method was striking. Unlike much of what we do today, Jesus did not use multitudes to reach a few; he used a few to reach multitudes. If you will say 'Yes, Lord' and 'Help me, Lord,' he will use you to turn your corner of the world upside down. He is inviting you to help him draw people out of darkness and into light. How is that even possible for ordinary people like us? Because the Holy Spirit comes upon you. One old picture says the Spirit wears you like a glove — his power working through your yielded life.

Which will you be?

In the ministry of Jesus there were really two groups: the multitudes, and his co-laborers. Which are you? Which do you want to be? Many born-again people spend their whole lives in the multitudes, and today the invitation is to step out of the crowd and become one of his co-laborers. Do not be born again merely to get to heaven; be born again to become a follower, so that you can labor alongside him. Jesus is not looking for multitudes. He is looking for men and women who will lead, feed, heal, and reach the multitudes.

So here is the response he is waiting for. Ask him honestly, 'Lord Jesus, in what area of my life am I not following you? What have I put in front of you?' Then pray, 'What can I do right now, in obedience, to show that I have said yes?' It may mean surrendering an ambition, a mindset, an entitlement, a way of doing things. And when you say yes, remember it is he who will make you, so ask him at once: help me, save me, even from myself. Receive his Holy Spirit as your Helper. Following Jesus is a call into community, so do not walk it alone. Say yes, say help me, and take his hand. The invitation is open, and it has your name on it.