Bible Studies

---

"Take a leap of faith!" "Trust Jesus" are slogans with which some evangelists encourage people who are on the verge of making a decision for Christ. Unfortunately, many potential converts know very little about Christ, and such encouragements many times plant the seeds of the gospel on stony ground. As the Lord warns in the Parable of the Sower, "they receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away." (Luke 8:13)

When questioned about this practice, these soul-winners use the example of Peter, Andrew, James, and John unquestioningly dropping their nets when the Lord called them. In fact, if we look at the calling of the first disciples as described in the Bible, we see that the adverb "immediately" is indeed used to describe their response to Jesus' exhortation "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20) Even a quick check of the original Greek shows that the word used, eutheos, is best translated "immediately." Alone this passage leaves us with the impression of a charismatic stranger with the ability to mesmerize people into following him. But was this really the case?

Let's put this account in its proper context by stepping back a couple of verses to Matt 4:12 and Mark 1:14. "Now after John was in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God." This is undoubtedly referring to John the Baptist, the man who preceded and baptized Jesus. Why John ran afoul of the powers that be is beyond the scope of this article, but the point is that it was not until John was totally out of the picture that Jesus finally called his disciples.

This helps to firmly establish a timeline which becomes very important when we move to John 1:36. In this passage, John the Baptist spots Jesus walking and proclaims "Behold the Lamb of God!" When two of John's disciples overhear this announcement, they follow Jesus out of curiosity. In fact they end up spending the whole evening with the Lord. In verse 40, we find out that one of the men who burned the midnight oil talking to Jesus was ... Andrew. In fact two verses down, we have him bringing his brother Peter to meet the man whom he believed was the Messiah. Many scholars believe that the unnamed disciple who met with Jesus was John, another of the impulsive fishermen. If this is true, he very likely shared his experience with his brother also. So several months before they are even called from their boats, our foursome had already become acquainted with Jesus.

Next I want to look at the disciples actions after they were called. The best place to find that information is starting at Mark 1:21. It seems that the first disciples were treated to many exhibitions of Jesus' power. First they saw the demon cast out in the synagogue and then Peter witnessed his sick mother-in-law being cured of a fever. Then that evening they watched as "He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out many demons." (Mark 1:34)

To round out the big picture we turn to the third gospel. Now Luke 4:31-41 reads pretty close to their corresponding verses in Mark, but the "beloved physician" extends the account to include the story of Jesus teaching the multitude on the beach. Mark began his sequence with the fishermen immediately, but in Luke, we find that Peter was back to fishing this day. In fact the man called Simon must have not been totally mesmerized because Jesus had to perform another miracle - the overwhelming midday catch – in order to totally convince him. (Luke 5:6-7)

Putting it all together, it becomes obvious that if one is looking for an example of someone blindly following Jesus, they cannot use Peter, Andrew, James, and John as examples. Their relationship with the Lord began back during the days of John the Baptist, and although we did not discuss them, there was a series of events of which the Galileans could have been part. So it was not a stranger that lured them from their boats. Furthermore, there was not even a total abandonment of their livelihood, but two days after abandoning their nets, we find them back at fishing again.

Christianity is often described as a relationship and not a religion. In order to cultivate this relationship we spend time with God by reading his word and talking to him in the form of prayer. It is impossible for someone to establish a relationship with a person they do not even know. So is it really fair to require blind faith from new converts? I am sure there are many stories of people who were so overwhelmed by the spirit that they successfully took that "leap of faith," but I believe we would be much more effective if we followed Jesus' example.

Since relationship is such a big part of our walk with the Lord, we should observe the rules of common courtesy and introduce potential converts to Jesus before asking them for a commitment. We as Christians can accomplish this by developing two simple habits. First live our lives according to the word of God. If we are truly walking the walk, people will notice because the principles of the Bible run contrary to the way most people live their lives. So naturally questions will arise and lead into the second habit - using these questions as opportunities to teach the non-believers about Jesus. By doing these two steps, we can cultivate seeking hearts that already have a basic knowledge of Christ when it comes time to give their lives to him.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE