[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are a reflection on Sunday's message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/hear-a-message]
As a kid, I was intrigued when the missionaries my church supported came to visit. Sometimes they’d wear tradition clothing from the area where they worked, and they’d give an update on what they were doing. They’d often show pictures or a video, and especially if there were any children in the family, I’d think how hard it would be to live so far away from everything that they knew—and to not have TV. Certainly these people were better at loving and following Jesus than I could ever be.
Even now, I sometimes think that way. When I hear stories of people selling all their possessions and moving to a far-off country to tell people about Jesus, or quitting their jobs so they can spend all their time to a church or charity, or starting organizations that help feed hungry people, I struggle between thinking “Good for them” and “Well I can’t do that, so I must not be able to do much for Jesus.”
When Jesus called his disciples, which we read about in Matthew 4:18-22, it’s true that he did call them away from what they were doing and to something else. In that day and age, there was much that was unusual about this situation. Jesus picked his followers, when most rabbis were sought out by students who wanted to learn from them. A rabbi’s followers were usually the best and brightest of the crowd, those who had risen to the top in their academic endeavors, and Jesus picked fishermen who had probably failed out of school at some point. The people Jesus picked to be his disciples did not have the usual qualifications, but he chose them anyway. They made a life-altering decision of giving up their daily routine and the way they made a living in order to follow Jesus—they were willing to use what they had to follow him.
For some of us, that may be what Jesus calls us to do—to leave behind everything we know, to start a new life somewhere and work for him.
But, despite what I sometimes thought as a child, following Jesus does not automatically mean moving to another country, quitting our jobs, or starting charities. It certainly can mean that, but it doesn’t always. The interesting thing about the way Jesus called his disciples to follow him is that he used language they would understand. He was talking to fishermen, so he talked about being fishermen who catch people. Jesus met them where they were at, and he does the same today. We can follow him wherever we are.
It might volunteering in children’s ministries and committing to show up. It might mean volunteering at the food pantry. It might mean living with half the income we’re used to in order to give the rest to God. It might mean walking across the break room at work to talk to someone who looks like they’re having a rough day. It might mean moving to Africa to work at an orphanage.
Following Jesus will look a little bit different for each one of us, and it can be done wherever he’s placed us.
[Brianna DeWitt attends Encounter Church and lives, works, and writes in Grand Rapids, MI. You can see more of her musings on her personal blog athttp://awritespot.wordpress.com and on Twitter at @bwitt722.]
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