And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Matthew 4:18-20
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20
At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus called the disciples to be fishermen of men However, at the end of his ministry, He commissioned them differently. He added a new level of complexity to it by commanding them to disciple people. After Jesus spent 3 1/2 years with His disciples, they had grown to a point that they knew what it meant be discipled. Discipling people meant to teach them and show them to be disciplined followers of Christ. If the disciples had only concentrated on catching people as fishermen, the church would not have multiplied and survived the persecution that fell upon them.
Is the church discipling people? Is the church teaching people to become the salt and light of the earth? Is the church teaching people doctrinally and relationally that there is a balance between meeting personal needs and reaching out to others through sacrifice and service?
But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Hebrews 5:14
Obviously, in any church body, you will find baby believers and older believers, but the messages over time should be able to provide the right type of food for every believer. Solid food should be provided by every church to allow people to come to full age and to be able to exercise their mature understanding of the Word and discern good and evil in a complex and confusing world. Is the church getting people ready to use their spiritual senses and discern between good and evil? Is the church feeding people solid food or is it keeping people in baby phase where they can only handle the milk?
Some may be concerned that giving people meat can push people away because they cannot digest hard words. Life can have tough seasons and some of the scriptures that are tough to swallow are actually making people ready for real life situations. Just as parents’ responsibility is to help their children to face the responsibility of adulthood and teach them about the reality of life away from parents, similarly, the leaders’ responsibility is to train people to be strong and allow their light shine in the midst of adversity.
Let’s pray for the body of Christ to awaken to its God given commission and responsibility to reach the lost and to the disciple the nations!
