My friend J. Wise led me to THIS amazing Spurgeon sermon on discipleship and fishing.
I loved this train of thought in particular:
We are like the fishes, making sin to be our element; and the good Lord comes, and with the gospel net he takes us, and he delivers us from the life and love of sin. But he has not wrought for us all that he can do, nor all that we should wish him to do, when he has done this;for it is another and a higher miracle to make us who were fish to become fishers—to make the saved ones saviours—to make the convert into a converter—the receiver of the gospel into an imparter of that same gospel to other people. I think I may say to every person whom I am addressing—If you are saved yourself, the work is but half done until you are employed to bring others to Christ. You are as yet but half formed in the image of your Lord. You have not attained to the full development of the Christ-life in you unless you have commenced in some feeble way to tell to others of the grace of God: and I trust that you will find no rest to the sole of your foot till you have been the means of leading many to that blessed Savior who is your confidence and your hope. His word is—Follow me, not merely that you may be saved, nor even that you may be sanctified; but, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
“Discipleship” is the flavor of the week in evangelical America right now.
Not without warrant however.
The confession that attenders are not necessarily Christians is a refreshing one.
A Biblical division of discernment rightly being (perhaps for the first time in many circles) applied.
A conversation recently centered around Discipleshift produced this exploration into fishing and being a fish.
We are caught and made into catchers.
We are caught up into Christ to convince others.
We are to evangelize, establish and equip people.
Evangelize the unregenerate.
Establish the responsive.
Equip the established to evangelize the unregenerate.
Wash.Rinse.Repeat.
No comments:
Post a Comment