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As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him. – Mark 1:16-20 (NASB)

Being a disciple of Christ entails a willingness to live by faith. After calling Simon and Andrew, Jesus went on to call James and John who were busy mending their nets. We know they had a successful business because they had employees. But when Jesus made the call, they also left their family business, their livelihood.

In our eyes, it doesn’t make much sense to leave a successful business and enter another that entails a long internship and must be built from the ground up. It doesn’t make sense to leave a church membership of 2,000, and go to a church with only 20 members. It doesn’t make much sense to leave a 300-voice choir, and become the director of just 10.

But we shouldn’t limit our perspective to mere numbers. We can ask Gideon when we get to heaven. He will tell us that just because we are outnumbered, we are not necessarily outmatched[1]. God will take the 300 few, faithful and enduring workers and make that be enough to accomplish His will.

We need to be wise stewards[2]. We need to try to make sure that we have balanced budgets, that we pay our debts on time[3], and that we are getting the most “bang for our buck”[4] in our budgets – our own and our church’s[5]. But as Christians, we must also recognize that the bottom line is not all there is for the disciple of Christ.

• It did not make much sense for the disciples to leave successful businesses and go into unpaid ministry with an unknown and controversial rabbi[6].
• It did not make much sense for Philip to leave a successful mega-church’s revival and take off for the desert to reach one foreigner[7].
• It did not make much sense for our Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, to become a human, be born into a subjugated race on the bottom of the socio-economic ladder and die for a species that would, for the most part, reject Him[8].

The point is that when God calls, we go by faith. The Bible says that not only are we saved by faith[9] but we must also walk by faith and not by sight[10]. If we are committed to following Christ, we must realize that discipleship is a life of faith.

[1] Judges 7

[2] Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 12:35-38,42; 19:12-27

[3] Romans 13:8

[4] Ecclesiastes 9:10; Colossians 3:23-24

[5] 1 Timothy 3:5

[6] Mark 1:16-20; Matthew 4:18-22; Luke 5:1-11

[7] Acts 8:26-40

[8] Philippians 2:5-8

[9] Ephesians 2:8-10

[10] 2 Corinthians 5:7

"Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life" from Tom Kelley

A True Measure