People have a tendency to misunderstand Christianity. I can't tell you how many times I have had conversations with people who don't believe the Bible or Christianity because they have been led to believe it's something that it's not. Whether that's a bunch of rules to restrict your fun, a get our hell free ticket, or a burden to wear on your shoulders to try to please an angry God, sadly there are a lot of people who have not heard the good news of the gospel.
Not only is there a tendency to misunderstand Christianity, but we also have a tendency to forget the simple truths that define our faith. At the heart of Christianity, what is it really all about? Very easily we lose sight of what really matters and what the gospel is really about.
I love this passage in Matthew, where Jesus calls the first disciples. While this passage is literal in a lot of ways, in these few words, Matthew sums up what it truly means to follow Jesus. Following Jesus is a call from Jesus. It's not something we just decide to do one day. Our following Jesus is because He first pursues us and calls us.
Here are three things we need to understand about the call to follow Jesus that make all the difference in our experience.
1. Following Jesus is a call to a relationship with Jesus.
Jesus doesn't call us to follow a bunch of rules. Jesus doesn't say, "Hey, get yourself together! Then, God will love you and you can go to heaven." The call to follow Jesus is first and foremost a call to Himself. He calls us to know Him, to love Him, to treasure Him, to follow Him.
It's not a call to religion. It's not a call to a building once a week. It's not a call to confession. It's a call to a personal relationship with Jesus.
The One who made the universe, the One who made you, the One who died on the cross for sin and rose again in victory is calling us to know Him deeply and personally. That is a call that changes everything.
The call to follow Jesus is first and foremost a call to Himself. He calls us to know Him, to love Him, to treasure Him, to follow Him.
2. Following Jesus is a call to be transformed by Jesus.
Not only does Jesus call us to know Him, but He says "I will make you..." Following Jesus is a call to be transformed by Jesus completely.
He wasn't inviting these disciples to come and make themselves into something. He wasn't inviting them into a 12 step program to become better people. He invited them to come to Him and be transformed. His call was to come and receive a brand new identity.
When we come to Jesus, it is a call to transformation. You can come as you are, but Jesus is so good and glorious that He never leaves us that way. He gives us a new name, a new position, and He begins a daily work of transformation in our hearts and our lives.
The call to follow Jesus is a call to reject self-transformation and trying to be enough on your own. It's a call to surrender to the One with infinite power and allow Him to do what only He can do in your life. This is a call to freedom and to true change.
3. Following Jesus is a call to respond whole-heartedly.
I love the way Matthew records the response of the disciples. "Immediately they left their nets and followed Him."
This call was a big deal. It would cost them everything. They would have to leave their life behind in order to follow Jesus. But the disciples knew that following Jesus was worth more than everything, so they responded immediately.
The call to follow Jesus is not a casual invitation. He is calling you and I to whole-heartedly respond to Him. To abandon all for His name sake. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to leave your job and family and everything behind, but it does mean that everything else in your life has to bow to Jesus.
When we follow Jesus, we willing say everything belongs to Him. Our time, our energy, our money, our kids, our families, our future, everything. But there is no real sacrifice when we get Jesus. He is worth it. He is worth following. He is worth giving up everything in this life again and again.
There is nothing like following Jesus.
