Beyond Virtual Christianity: An Invitation
Mark 1:16-20
Sometimes the Christian life is compared to marriage. And it kind of makes sense, if you think about it. You meet someone you like, you get acquainted. Then there is a proposal and a response. Then, finally there is that moment that you stand face to face before God and everybody and pledge your lives to each other. And from that moment, life is changed. You walk into the distance together. And that’s the major difference. Together. That’s true in the Christian life as well. You get to know Jesus, who he is, what he has done and taught. Then at some point you hear his invitation to become a follower and you make a response. From then on, it’s you and Jesus. Together.
A young girl was learning about social customs in different cultures, and she was reciting back to her teacher some things that she had learned about marriage customs. “In our country,” she said, “it’s illegal to be married to more than one person at a time. That’s called monotony.”
Well, there is a similarity between marriage and the Christian faith. It’s about a relationship, about commitment. But if you think either one is about monotony, then you’ve been sold a bill of goods.
I want to extend an invitation to you today—especially to those who might think that the Christian life is boring or mundane. Here’s the invitation: To move beyond virtual Christianity to the reality of Christian faith.
We learn from four fishermen that Christ’s call is anything but life as usual. On that fateful day on the beach, Simon, Andrew, James and John turned their backs on everything that was familiar and comfortable and began an adventure that would never stop. Here’s something I read in a commentary this week that challenged me about this: “The call and the instant response of these fishermen reveal something of what discipleship to Jesus entails and should shatter our comfortable world of middle-class discipleship. Disciples are not those who simply fill pews at worship, fill out pledge cards, attend an occasional Bible study, and offer to help out in the work of the church now and then. They are not merely eavesdroppers and onlookers. When one is hooked by Jesus, one’s whole life and purpose in life are transformed.” (NIV, in loc)
One’s whole life and purpose in life are transformed. Would you like that to happen to you?
Then hear what Jesus said to those four fishermen. “Follow me.”
Follow me. If you want to move beyond virtual Christianity to the real thing, that’s what it’s about. Following Jesus.
From time to time someone will ask me what I think is the most important thing about being a Christian. Usually when someone asks that, he or she is looking for a set of basic beliefs. What are the core beliefs that I have to subscribe to if I am going to call myself a Christian?
Christians do tend to agree on some basic beliefs. But what’s at the core of being a Christian is not so much a core belief as it is a core relationship. So when someone asks me that question, my answer is this: the most important thing about being a Christian is following Jesus.
Why is it so important for Christians to follow Jesus, as opposed to simply believing the right stuff? Well, the answer is quite simple. We need to follow, because he’s headed somewhere. And if we don’t follow, we may lose track of him. Maybe that’s happened to you. He’s gone one way, you’ve gone another. Suddenly, you’re lost in the morass of life. There was a 17-year-old boy who responded to an altar call one time, and said he wanted to rededicate his life to Christ. When he was asked why he had come, he said, “I don’t know where I am. If I don’t know where I am, then I’m not where I ought to be.” (story file, 16.7.4) He had the right idea. He knew that Jesus would show him where he needed to be.
A slogan that we use for Morning Star says that we are “charting a course for new life in Jesus Christ.” We are setting our direction based on where Jesus is and where he is leading us. It’s not his job to follow us in our carefully devised plans. It’s our job to follow him.
That’s very dramatically presented as we watch the four fishermen leave their livelihoods and their families, and follow Jesus as he walks into the distance. Mark tells the story so quickly that we might get the idea that this was easy for these people. I’m sure it was not. And if you read the other gospels, you get the broader story, and see that this is not necessarily the first time that they have seen or heard this maverick rabbi. But this meeting is decisive for them. What we need to hear in Mark’s telling of the story is how authoritative Jesus’ voice is. Jesus says, follow me, and immediately they follow. This is reminiscent of what we have heard in other places in the Bible. The creation, for instance, where God says, let there be light, and there was light. And in the call of God to Abraham, Moses, and many others. God speaks, and that authoritative voice compels a response.
In calling his disciples, Jesus was very different from other rabbis of his day, and even from John the Baptist. Other rabbis welcomed students who came to them, and taught them to understand and follow the Law. John the Baptist would go to a certain location, start to preach, and wait to see who would come to hear his message and be baptized. But, like God in creation who called light out of darkness, Jesus initiated. He selected disciples—“I want you, and you, and you. Follow me.”
His message is the same today. I want you. Follow me.
Jesus is headed somewhere, and if we want him to be with us on our journey, and if we want to be with him at the end of the road, we’ve got to follow him now. It’s not his job to follow us.
I know some of the questions that may be popping into your head. Like, how do I know where he is going? Jesus isn’t here physically, like he was for the disciples, so how can I understand what he’s doing and where he wants me to be? We want to know where we are headed.
In a cemetery in Indiana there is a tombstone with this inscription: “Pause, stranger, when you pass me by, as you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be, so prepare for death and follow me.”
Some years after that epitaph was etched in stone, a passerby scratched this reply: “To follow you I’m not content, until I know which way you went.”
Even if it’s Jesus that we’re following, we want to know where he’s headed, don’t we? But like those fishermen, we do not know the future. We need to trust him to lead us to the place we need to be. So, we simply stand beside these four fishermen, their boats and their nets, and consider our own sources of security and income and lifestyle and family. Consider this radical call to follow Jesus into a future that is not known. Consider the willingness of these four people to step away from that security and familiarity to pursue what certainly seemed like a risky and reckless path. Then, consider what may stand between you and that full commitment.
Is it the illusion that your only needs are physical, so you need to build financial and material security above all else?
Is it the idea that others have set your course for you, and you must stay on that path to please them?
Is it fear? Or maybe a sense of inertia—it’s comfortable here and I don’t know where Jesus will take me.
Maybe you have trust issues. Where’s this Jesus guy going to take me? I’ve been “taken” before.
Someone once said that if we don’t let God govern us, we will be governed by tyrants. In other words, people are followers. If you don’t follow Jesus, who are you going to follow? You will follow someone, something.
Two down-and-outers sat on a park bench discussing better days. “I had a glorious future at one time, man,” one of them said. “I know that may be hard to believe, but it’s true. I was a college graduate, doing pretty well, but my wife wanted to be rich. So I got on Wall Street and started making even more money. I’d work ten, twelve, fifteen hours a day, but it was never enough. My wife would spend more than I ever made. It was driving me into the ground. Then finally she ran off with somebody who was doing even better than I was. I just fell apart. Now I’m here in the park, drinking cheap wine, and trying to drown my sorrows. How about you?”
The other guy said, “I think I’m the guy she ran off with.” (story file, 16.7.7)
Think about who it is who is saying to you, “Follow me.” It’s not your husband, or your wife, it’s not your mother, it’s not your buddies, it’s not your boss, and it’s certainly not the preacher. It’s Jesus, God in the flesh. The one who loves you more than you could ever imagine.
Think about your response. Are you ready to walk with him into the future, no holds barred? (End for 9:00)
Think about the experience of the father in this little story. Just after bringing the new baby home from the hospital, the mom suggested to the dad that he should try his hand at changing the diaper. “I’m busy,” he said. “I’ll do the next one.” The next time the baby was wet, the mom asked the dad if he was ready to learn how to change diapers. He gave her a sort of a puzzled look and said, “I didn’t mean the next diaper; I meant the next baby!”
It’s easy to put off till tomorrow the commitments that we need to make today, isn’t it?
Is Jesus calling you today? Then dare to follow him today.