Articles
Fishers of Men
Fishers of Men
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men’” (Mark 1:17).
The college study this semester was all about discipleship. Mark 1:17 was our theme verse as this one sentence from Jesus summarizes the role of a disciple. This article will examine this three-part call to discipleship that addresses the disciple’s head, heart, and hands.
Follow Me — Head
A disciple must be willing to follow Jesus.
Discipleship starts in our heads when we decide to follow Jesus. Many of us have made the decision to follow Jesus, but we need to be sure we know what Jesus means when He says follow Me. Here are some examples of what Jesus means when He invites us to follow Him:
Matthew 8:22 “Follow Me, and let the dead bury the dead”
Mark 8:34 “Let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me”
John 8:12 “He who follows me shall not walk in darkness”
John 12:26 “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me… him My Father will honor”
I Will Make You Become — Heart
A disciple must be willing to be changed by Jesus.
If discipleship is only an idea in our heads, then we are missing the rest of the verse. Discipleship must extend to transformed hearts. I think this is the hardest part of the discipleship process because typically humans do not want to be changed. Others may be fine with being changed as disciples, but do not understand what they are being transformed into. The New Testament makes it clear that followers of Jesus are being transformed into the image of Jesus Himself:
Romans 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…”
2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all… are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Colossians 1:27 “God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Fishers of Men — Hands
A disciple must be willing to make other disciples.
These thoughts on Mark 1:17 come from a book by Jim Putman called Discipleshift.
He summarizes the progression of becoming fishers of men like this: “If our acceptance of Jesus begins in the head and extends to the heart, it leads to a change in what we do with our hands.” This change of action is not just showing up to church or learning a lot of Bible facts, but it is participating in God’s purpose for the world. Here are some verses that show God’s purpose that we can participate in:
Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Colossians 1:28 “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus always had others in mind, so He made fishers of men. The gospel would not have reached you had there not been fishers of men, so our job is to be fishers of men. Make the decision to follow Jesus if you have not already. If you have made that decision, then change your heart to be dedicated to God’s purpose everyday. If your head and your heart are changed, then your actions will change too. Be here for services tonight and we will talk about the different roles in evangelism that will help us be fishers of men.
–William Speer
