Fishing For People
In Mark's Gospel chapter 1, Jesus said the words “come and follow me.” And then he goes on to say, “I'll send you out to fish for people.” And then verse 18 says, “At once they left their nets and followed him.” Isn't that a powerful phrase?
Immediately Following
I wondered about the immediacy of our willingness to follow God. And when God calls us and God engages with us, I think He gauges our love for him by our obedience. To love and obey all kind of inextricably linked; to love somebody is to do what they want. And the desire of our hearts is we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength to do what He wants us to do.
God’s Passion
And so the passion for the world that God has, is to say, “I wish you to fish for people”. Now Matthew 28:19 and so on speaks about making disciples of all nations. And therefore, the word “éthni”, you know, “nations”, is every single level of the ethnicities within our cultures. And so there is a Harley Davidson culture or there is a yuppie culture or there is a hip hop culture, or there is whatever - you with me?
Subcultures/Affinity Groups
All these subcultures are the groups that you have affinities with. And Jesus says, “You don't have to go and climb mountains. You don't need to go the furthest ends of the world. You just need to go to the affinity groups of the people that you know and love. And those are the people that you need to fish for!” Those are the levels of the cultures in which we live that God has placed us so that we can make disciples in those contexts.
Think about your affinity groups. Think about the people that you rub shoulders with. How can you help them in that - their gathering moments - to say, “Maybe today we could think of reading a verse and just hearing what God says to us today” and evolving that into a moment where you share the Scripture? Three people: one person with the Scripture, another person reads the Scripture in another translation, and a third one paraphrases it and you say, “What is God saying to us today?” And then God draws the people to himself.
Growing the Kingdom
The book Miraculous Movements tells us that right around the world, these affinity groups are the multiplying ways in which God is growing the kingdom amongst us. So think about the people you could rub shoulders with and how can you turn your affinity groups into an encounter with God so that it can be an incredible blessing. Because that's how we are obedient to going to fish for people.
Spend time today thinking and praying about the people that you can bring into a loving community where you can experience the risen Jesus.
