Discipleship as Fishing

Among Jesus' first words to his would-be disciples was:

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people. (Mark 1:17)

A recent article in Christianity Today suggests that church leaders and church-goers are not on the same page with how they understand "discipleship" and how to go about growing in discipleship. There is a difference between whether pastors think discipleship is taking place and whether church-goers do. And there is a diversity of words and ideas used to describe "discipleship": "becoming more Christ-like," "spiritual growth," "spiritual journey," "sanctification." Not all of these are mutually exclusive. But they do reflect diverse ideas and that maybe not everyone is on the same page.

Jesus' first words quoted above are an invitation to a life of discipleship--to a life of following Jesus. If a major part of Jesus' life included making disciples, Mark 1:17 gives us Jesus' most succinct phrase that tells us what it's all about.

Follow me is not "keep track of what someone is doing and saying on their chosen social network." To follow Jesus involves much more than observation of what Jesus is doing or saying and maybe liking it.

Let's put Jesus' invitation differently, into words many of us aren't already familiar with:

Walk in my steps, do what I do, say what I say, and live how I live, and I will remake you into people who catch people.

Let's take a look at what this one statement might tell us about discipleship.

"Follow me" is the main invitation. Following is an involved thing. We listen to what Jesus says, do what Jesus does, and how he does it. It's less observation and more imitation.

Point One: to follow Jesus means we stop trying to be followed.

Jesus' statement in Mark 1:17 is not just a simple "follow me." We often focus just on the "follow me" part. But the statement has two parts to it. Part one: follow me. Part two: I will make you all into people who catch people. 

These two parts make a whole, which define the life of discipleship. It's not that discipleship is just the first part (follow me) and the second part (which often becomes secondary) is about doing something else--catching people or evangelism. Often we think this way. Many of the popular ways of understanding discipleship from the Christianity Today article have to do with the idea of following Jesus in the sense of growing spiritually, being more like Jesus. This is true. But following Jesus includes more than this.

Point two: discipleship is two sided--following and fishing. 

Evangelism is discipleship. Discipleship is evangelism. They go together. Discipleship cannot be just about being more like Jesus. And it can't be just about catching people. We fish because we follow; we follow because we fish.

Notice something else in Jesus' statement.

What's the invitation?                                 To follow Jesus.
Who's the one doing the "making"?           Jesus (not us).
What's Jesus making?                                People who fish for people.

Did you catch it? Did you notice what's not really at the center of this whole statement of discipleship?

The ego. Me. Discipleship is all about Jesus and people. It's not about me.

The take-away? Discipleship is the result of only Jesus' work, not our efforts, and it is not about being a better Christian. Discipleship is about others (the people). 

In other words, programs and Bible studies do not make disciples. Jesus makes disciples. And it only happens when we follow Jesus in the details of our lives. Programs or Bible studies might facilitate this. But they also might not.

And discipleship is not so we can grow closer to God. This happens, naturally, of course. That it will happen is a given--but it's not the purpose. We're not on the discipleship wagon for our own spiritual benefit. We're on the discipleship wagon for the benefit of others. Being a disciple of Jesus is good for us, make no mistake. It's just not the goal.

And the focus is on God's work for the world. Fishing for people is Jesus' idea, and making us into fishers is Jesus' task. The prophet Jeremiah writes of catching people as part of God's work of restoring his people Israel from exile. In Jeremiah 16:16 the Lord says

I am now sending many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them...

The "them" are God's people. God is catching them out of exile and bringing them into renewed life. Out of the darkness into the light.

And God's not the only one trying to catch people. The prophet Habakkuk uses the image to talk about how "the wicked enemy" fishes for people:

You have made people like the fish of the sea, like the sea creatures who have no ruler.                                  The wicked enemy pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net,                                                he gathers them into his dragnet, and so he rejoices and is glad. (Hab. 1:14-15) 

Habakkuk probably did not read Jeremiah. But they're using similar ideas to make points. Fishing for people is an act of pulling them out of someplace for some purpose.

In contrast to the evil enemy, the work of God is to gather people into his net to rescue them from evil ways, from destruction.

Point three: God's fishing is a rescue mission. Discipleship is being one of God's fishers pulling people to safety and life, and away from death.

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There's more to the fishing idea.

Did you know that fishing in Jesus' time was not something one did silently on a Sunday afternoon, with a pole and a tackle-box, one cast, one catch sort of thing?

Nope.

Fishing took at least two (as many as four or five) people, in a boat, working together, and a large net. And it took a while. I'm not talking about sitting there for a while and waiting, but setting the net and going away, and then coming back--the whole group of fishers again together--to haul up the net they put into the water.

Point four: discipleship is about group fishing. 

Discipleship just got crazy and messy. This means, practically speaking, that discipleship in participation in God's mission is not an individual pursuit. It's a process, not a one-time happening. And discipleship doesn't go well if only one person is trying to haul in the net. Discipleship in its nature demands working together, helping others in the boat with the task of fishing.

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What's discipleship about? In a very basic sense, it's about people gathered together following Jesus in the work of gathering more people as part of God's rescue mission. This is, fundamentally, and in very simple terms, the call of discipleship.

This might just change the paradigm a bit for me. Maybe for you, too. Discipleship is not simply about becoming more like Jesus in my personal life. It includes this, don't misunderstand me. But, this is not all it is about. Remember, Jesus' invitation has two parts: follow me and I will make you all become people who catch people.

Which of the above points most intrigues you? Which one is important to your work of discipleship or creating disciples as a leader in ministry? Which one might be a little neglected?

Over the next few weeks, well look more deeply into these parts of discipleship.