The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

Attendance or Apprenticeship?:  Mt.4:19

          ^4:19 ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’

          When Brian became a Christian, his friend Dave was psyched.  Dave had prayed for Brian for 2 years, and even roomed with him during the second year.  I, as their friend and resource to them in campus ministry, had encouraged Dave periodically during that time, so I knew it meant a lot to Dave.  However, after Brian acknowledged Jesus as Lord, Dave didn’t know what to do.  He would occasionally pray with Brian, but he was waiting for Brian to ‘come to church.’  Dave wanted to turn Brian into an ‘attender.’

Jesus, however, wanted to turn Brian into an ‘apprentice,’ and Brian was already learning from his new and good Master.  Not only was he studying the Bible with the help of some friends, Brian was talking with people about his recent decision to give his life to Jesus.  Brian would go to parties on campus (because that’s what he had always done) and talk to people quite naturally for a couple of hours about life issues, very personably weaving in his own story of spiritual transformation.  No one walked away feeling like Brian pushed something onto them.  Brian later organized a bunch of his friends to talk about God and spiritual issues. 

          For Brian (the brand new Christian who didn’t know any better), ‘church’ was not a place to go to, so much as it was a way of life.  The Christian life wasn’t simply about ‘coming to church.’  It was about ‘being the church.’  Jesus – who had once said to his disciples, ‘I will make you fishers of men’ – had said that to Brian in his heart.  Jesus made Brian his apprentice.  Soon afterwards, Dave (the Christian who had grown up ‘going to church’ his whole life) got on board and helped support his friend Brian reach out to Brian’s friends.  In the process, Dave changed as much as Brian did.  

          Following Jesus is about apprenticeship, not attendance.

          From earliest times, Christians knew they had to share their faith with the person right next door, or the person in the marketplace.  They had to be active vessels of Jesus’ love, not passive recipients, in evangelistic mission to their neighbor.  They had to tell their own personal spiritual stories, sometimes immediately.  The blind man Jesus healed in John 9 became a witness to Jesus as soon as he was healed.  Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John became ‘fishers of men’ fairly soon after deciding to follow Jesus.  It is inherent to who Jesus is.

But the ‘Constantinian’ model of church changed things.  Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity and converted pagan temples into Christian buildings, sometimes without changing the personnel!  He brought people into these buildings in droves, and sought to use Christian faith as a tool for political stabilization.  So, with massive numbers of people in the Empire now being nominally ‘Christian,’ passive attendance at these services became the most important thing about the Christian life.  Reciting creeds replaced telling your personal story.  Evangelistic mission became something done in another country by someone else, not something done locally by everyone.  Christian faith became a spectator sport. 

But in the twenty-first century in the U.S., once again our mission field is obviously the person right next door, the person in the cafeteria line, and the person in the office.  Yet Christians sometimes hold to a ‘Constantinian’ model of ‘church,’ where, implicitly or explicitly, the main sign of our spiritual commitment is still our ability to sit in a seat.

          Jesus calls us into apprenticeship, not simply attendance.