REALSample

A Dangerous Mission

By Ben Pirtle 

One day while Jesus was choosing His disciples, He asked several fishermen to do something out of the ordinary. He told them to follow Him so He could make them fishers of men. He then led them on a three-year expedition in search of broken and disenfranchised people who needed to be rescued from the grip of their sin.

In Luke 19, as Jesus and His disciples and followers passed through Jericho, they came across Zacchaeus, a wee little man who climbed up in a sycamore tree to see Jesus. Zacchaeus was a wealthy con man who acquired his fortune by cheating and stealing from his own people. He was hated for his dishonesty and immoral lifestyle. But to Jesus, he was a soul worth fishing for.

In this story, Jesus stops His procession when He notices Zacchaeus, and He says to him, “I want to come and hang out at your house today.” This shocked the religious people because Zacchaeus was essentially the enemy. As Jesus walked away from His familiar followers to speak to this rebellious outcast, He knew something His followers hadn’t yet realized: fishing for broken people requires going out of your comfort zone to where they can be found.

When Jesus made this shift from the safety of His friends to the house of the rejected, something drastically changed. Zacchaeus welcomed Him in, turned from his sin, and then repaid four times the amount to all from whom he had stolen! He received Jesus’ forgiveness and then became a blessing to those whom he formerly abused!

It is at this very point of the story when Jesus said, “‘Today salvation has come to this house .... For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.’” Jesus didn’t leave heaven to come sit in a safe zone surrounded by admirers. Jesus came on a dangerous mission to bring salvation to people who were destined for hell.

Here’s where it gets dangerous for us!

We are called to follow Jesus—not simply into His Father’s house, the Church, but also into the spaces that are occupied by the enemy. This is where the hurting people live. In your neighborhood and your school. They are hanging out at your job and at the gym. They congregate in restaurants, athletic fields, and shopping malls. It is time to answer the call from Jesus, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Where must we follow Jesus? Outside of our comfort and into the dark corners of the world where the lost are begging to be found!

Prayer

Father, give me the courage to take the light that I have received in Your house to the dark world, and use me to represent Your love to the lost! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Memory Verse

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Proverbs 4:23–26 (NLT)