{"id":10961,"date":"2022-04-13T07:03:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T14:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=10961"},"modified":"2022-05-06T19:35:41","modified_gmt":"2022-05-07T02:35:41","slug":"10961","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=10961","title":{"rendered":"Joining with Jesus in the Way He’s Made You to Bring Heaven Here"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Shane Bennett<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"So<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m an amazing kayaker. In my mind, that is. In the physical realm, not so much! I once picked up a beautiful, hand-made wooden kayak at a garage sale. The first time I tried it out, I managed to balance and very gently paddle it\u2026 on a pond. For my second effort, I took it to a way-back cove in our local reservoir. I had managed to gain a semblance of control amid the slight lake ripples when a nearby DWAB (dad with a boat), decided to pack up the family beach picnic and roar out of the cove full throttle.
 
As I hopelessly watched the tsunami roll my way, I remembered with distress a snake I\u2019d seen swim by\u2014and realized I hadn\u2019t seen it get to the edge. After dumping into the water, I slowly headed to the shore, one arm swimming, the other holding onto the upturned boat. Only then did I muse, \u201cMaybe kayaking is not for me.\u201d 

What about you? What do you wish you were better at? On the other hand, what is one thing you do better than the average person? These are fun and universal questions to kick around. I ask them today because I want to share how Jesus met Peter in the midst of what he could do and what he was going to get really good at doing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who’s The Better Fisherman?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Luke records for us in chapter five<\/a> that Jesus was teaching the crowd God\u2019s Word. Oh, how I wish that phrase was in blue, underlined, and linked to a full transcript of the talk! 

Whatever he was saying must have been pretty good, because the crowd kept closing in until Jesus asked Peter if he could hop up on his boat. Peter agreed, but it turned out Jesus was starting an epic version of \u201cif you give a mouse a cookie<\/a>!\u201d 

Jesus finished his teaching and asked Peter to row out a bit and let down the nets. Torn between knowing how (and when) to fish and thinking Jesus was pretty cool and maybe not wanting to wash the nets again, Peter obliges. 

The resulting catch began to break the nets, even threatened to sink the boats. Ponder this for a minute: Did Jesus cause the fish to gather in Peter\u2019s nets? Or did he create fish that hadn\u2019t been there just moments before? And if so, when they landed on dining tables the next evening, were they not the best-tasting fish anyone in Capernaum had ever had?

Peter, for his part, read the room, dropped to Jesus\u2019s knees, and begged him to depart, explaining, \u201cI am a sinful man.\u201d Peter realized this wasn\u2019t a matter of trying a little harder, maybe losing a few pounds and he\u2019d measure up. No, Jesus had just double-trumped him at the very thing he was good at! Jesus was on a whole other level. Best to face the music honestly. 

Seeing Jesus in action should naturally make us wonder how far we fall. It\u2019s scary to feel afresh how amazing Jesus is and then realize what a train wreck we may be. I believe we need this occasionally, but the weight can be devastating. May we move quickly from \u201camazing Jesus\u201d to \u201cI\u2019m a train wreck\u201d to the realization that Jesus lifts our face, our eyes, to his and says, \u201cYou are forgiven. I choose you.\u201d 
 
And he does choose us, like he chose Peter, \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid. You\u2019re going to be a fisher of men.\u201d 

(Parenthetically, good thing Peter\u2019s job was fishing and not selling cars or working as a short-order cook!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five Styles of Contagious Faith<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a reader of Missions Catalyst, I would guess you\u2019re a fan of the idea that disciples of Jesus are still called by him to gather people into the kingdom of God. Although I\u2019ve not been the best example, I couldn\u2019t agree with you more. I love it when Paul says we\u2019re ambassadors of Christ<\/a>. I believe when Jesus tells us to pray \u201cFather\u2026 let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven<\/a>,\u201d we\u2019re agreeing to do our part in that. 

But sharing our faith can be hard, confusing, frustrating, and fraught with guilt and shame. Here\u2019s something that has encouraged and energized me lately:

Mark Mittelberg<\/a>, author, academic, and partner-in-crime with Lee Stroebel, writes about five styles of contagious faith. He says when we think about sharing our faith, we feel most natural in one of these five approaches<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n