Confession and time to go fishing

And [Jesus] said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."—Matt. 4:19

I have a confession—I have been a follower of Jesus and I have not been a fisher of men. What gives? This doesn't really make sense in the light of the verse above. Jesus says if you follow Him then he will make you a fisher of men. However, I have not been actively, consistently sharing my faith for many years. This is a problem.

Perhaps you may think that Jesus was only talking to His disciples about the time during His earthly ministry. But I don't think so because the last thing that Jesus said to His disciples before he ascended into heaven was "to go and make disciples of all nations..." (Mt. 28:19) Perhaps you may think that the disciples and the early Christians took the gospel into the whole world and fulfilled this Great Commission of Jesus. This interpretation would mean that Christians today would not have to go and share the gospel and make disciples. In fact, this was the interpretation of the church during the Middle Ages and evangelism almost ceased. The church during this time lost the gospel and fell into ritualism and mysticism. Abuses were rampant in the church. The gospel was "rediscovered" by the Protestant reformers who found it by reading the Bible.

No, it is evidently clear that there are many, many people in the world who still who have not heard the gospel. The Great Commission still applies to Christians today. So if you are following Jesus you better be a fisher of men. I can think of two reasons you would not be a fisher of men.

• Either you are not truly a follower of Jesus, or
  
• you are a follower and you are sinning in disobedience.

I have been the second one. But something that saddens me more than my own sin is that I have the feeling that I am not alone—that many other Christians are in the same boat.

However, I want to share some hope for all of us as well as ways to get out of this problem.

First off, God is faithful and He will give us strength to do what He commands. Indeed, the Lord has woken me up lately to the reality of Hell and the urgency to share the good news of forgiveness of sins by trusting in Jesus. Pray for forgiveness and ask for strength to be obedient to Him.

some helpful steps
But step #1 should actually be this: make sure you are a truly born-again, Christian first. Jesus said that unless you are born again you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. It would be foolish to share the gospel with others if you yourself are not a follower of Christ or you don't know that for sure you will go to heaven or how to even get there. Have you ever noticed that on airplanes they tell parents that in the case of an emergency to put on their oxygen mask first and then help their children. In the same way, you will be no help to others (most likely) if you yourself are perishing. I must at this point tell you the gospel in a nutshell but click on the link afterwards for more information.

The Bible, God's word tells us that man is sinful. That means YOU. You cannot do enough good works to please Him. He is the Judge of the Universe and He will and must punish all evil. The Bible says that if you keep the whole Law (lets say a number like 600 laws) but you are guilty of breaking 1, then you are guilty of breaking all. (James 2:10) Jesus said to be perfect as the Father in heaven. Have you ever told a lie, used God's name as a cuss-word? Have you ever not put God before all other things in life? Then you have broken some of the 10 commandments. Jesus says that if you look at someone with lust in your heart then you have committed adultery. These would make you a liar, a blasphemer, an idolater, and adulteror. If God gave you justice then He would send you and me and everyone to Hell.

However, the good news is that God is not only just, but He is loving. He sent his own son, Jesus, born of a virgin and who lived a sinless life to die on a cross to pay for all your sins. The punishments that you deserve in Hell he paid with his own life. He arose from death showing that he was not only man but fully God and ascended to the right hand of God. The good news is that people like me and you can be forgiven and saved from the wrath of God when we trust in the salvation and payment of God, Jesus. We must repent, (turn from our sins and ask forgiveness) and put our faith in Jesus to save us. Our good works will not save us. If we try to stand in our own merits (good or bad) before God he will damn us to Hell. When we stand covered in the righteousness of Christ through faith then we are spotless. Here is more.

Step #2, Christian, make sure you know what the gospel is. How can you share it if you don't know it? It is truly a testament to God's grace how many people get saved in spite of muddy explanations of what the gospel is. Go to the Bible first and read, read, read! Also, read as much evangelism materials as you can. However, all of these materials are not created equal. Some gospel tracts are nothing more than a magic prayer formula to ask Jesus into your heart without any sort of mention of sin or repentence. How can Jesus become the Lord of your life if there is no change in the way you live? If you think you can pray a prayer but keep doing all the fun sins you want to hold on to, then your true god is yourself. You worship you. You are the boss.

Step #3, Do you have a testimony? Is there a clear period in your life where you asked God for forgiveness and trusted in Jesus alone (not yourself) to save you? There should have been some sort of change. Suddenly, you should have different desires, like the desire to follow God. I don't mean that you don't sin anymore. But you should struggle with sin rather than diving happily into it.

Step #4, Get out of your comfort zone and tell people about your testimony. Or you can tell them the gospel. Or you can give them a gospel tract. I have been doing this lately and it is always difficult. Most likely we will all struggle with the fear of rejection. However, we must fear and love God more.

But we must be motivated by love! It is so loving to tell someone about their dire situation and then to share the forgiveness and hope we have in Jesus. Not everyone will be happy with you but just plant a seed of the gospel and pray for them. Move on to someone else if you are rejected and lovingly share the gospel with them.

Build up slowly to share more and more. I have been giving out tracts lately and I am working towards longer conversations of sharing the gospel with strangers.

You can do it! The Bible says the righteous are as bold as lions. Throw yourself fully on God and get out there and share your faith. I am trying to do the same.