Opposite Disciples

To His first set of discipleship recruits, Jesus said, directly or otherwise, “Follow me,” and “they followed him.”  In that category were Peter, Matthew, James and John (Matthew 4:19; Luke 5:10-11; Mark 2:14).  Sometime later, He met a young man in whom He saw the potentials of God, and extended to him the same invitation, saying the same words, “Follow me,” but that man had a ‘valid’ excuse to not respond.  There was a father to bury (Luke 9:59).  Thus, he missed his slot.  At a different time, to another young rich ruler, Jesus gave the exact invitation.  Unfortunately, that man also was too connected to his material means to disconnect into the discipleship call.

Strangely, we find the opposite case of a man newly delivered from unclean spirits, who earnestly volunteered to register membership with the Movement of Jesus, according to the apparently ‘standard’ pattern of ‘following.’  He didn’t wait to be called, like the others, he applied to follow.  In fact, he begged to follow; he “prayed him that he might be with him.”  It was apparently a commendable gesture of gratitude for his healing from demons.  Surprisingly, to this one, Jesus said, “Go home…” (Mark 5:18-19).  Wasn’t Jesus contradicting Himself?  Was He discriminating against this Decapolis man, who was probably a non-Jew?

If Jesus should say to some, “Follow me,” and to another, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee,” what can we say is the more correct mode of discipleship?  Which of the two categories represents ‘correct’ discipleship – the ‘following’ or the ‘non-following’ group?

One set was called to follow and be groomed, to be sent out later to preach (Mark 3:14); another was ordained, we might say, to proceed to preach on the same day of encounter with the Master.  What is the more appropriate timeframe and process for ordination?  Now or later?

Given his remarkable personal ‘encounters,’ how likely would a ‘following’ disciple have judged or received a non-following, non-membered disciple?  On the other hand, how would a man ‘dismissed’ from ‘following,’ or commissioned right away to be a preacher, have judged those ‘wasting’ their time in the ‘seminary’ of Jesus, before they would start doing what they should have been doing all along? What are the dangers of judging another by one’s hallowed but private encounters?

Prophet Isaiah’s encounter with the Holy God reveals a mystery that connects to the present concern.  In that atmosphere of glory, the prophet heard God asking, “Whom shall I SEND, and who will GO for us?” (Isaiah 6:8).  To that heavenly voice, the prophet responded, saying, “Here am I; send me.”  According to that verse, there are two possible kinds of respondents: the ‘sent’ and the ‘goers.’  The sent are those whose mission is the initiative of God.  They are those specifically called or sent, as Peter was called, as Jeremiah was ordained from the womb (Jeremiah 1:5).  Unfortunately, like the Jonah headed for Tarshish, some of these never respond to the call, or they later fall away, like Judas (Acts 1:17, 25).  Above, we saw the similar cases in the ministry of Jesus.

Apart from the specifically called or sent, some of whom respond, like Isaiah, and others of whom flee to Tarshish, there is the second category, who merely overhear the voice or general ‘call,’ and decide to go, especially when those sent have failed to respond.  Whereas the initiative in the first case is the Caller’s, the initiative in the second case is the hearer’s, who decides to go. Usually, these are commissioned no less than the others.  There are people in ministry today in response to a spectacular encounter with God, like Saul on the road to Damascus.  There are others in ministry today making no less impact, but who cannot boast of the same kind of spectacular encounter, but are persuaded no less that they are on assignment for the King.  The sent and the goers.

The ‘sent’ could be charged for refusing a mandate if they should fail to respond, but the ‘goers’ could not be similarly charged if they failed to respond to an assignment directed at someone else.  They might be commended for stepping in, but not as liable to be indicted if they had not.  The call is one thing, the response is another.  There is no ‘ministry’ without both aspects.

Let us return to our original case: why the apparent contradiction: one called, the other sent away?  Furthermore, why would Jesus in Galilee forbid the healed from testifying to what He had done for them (Matthew 8:4; Mark 8:26), but here at Gadara commission another to do the same thing that He had forbidden others from doing at a different place and time?  Why was Jesus being apparently inconsistent and self-contradictory?  What is the best way of handling encounters with the Almighty?  Restraining or broadcasting them?  How appropriate is it to judge every encounter by one encounter, or others’ encounters by one’s encounter? What is the lesson from these?

Why did Jesus send the ex-demoniac away?  Maybe, according to some Bible commentators, Jesus did not want to deny the family of the newly healed man the joy of meeting their new father, new brother, new manager, new uncle.  And the man might have been clinging to Jesus, insisting on following Him, because he feared that the devils might return if Jesus left him.

Ultimately, that man’s widely told story greatly prepared that territory for Jesus’ other missions.  “And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him (Luke 8:39).  The Master was looking at the bigger picture.

If that man had been conscripted into the prestigious ‘membership’ club with the other disciples, it might have been a membership gain but a ministry loss.  No church walls sufficiently define all followers of Jesus.  The Master well said, “Other sheep I have, which is not of THIS FOLD” (John 10:16).  Some ‘followers’ there are, who are strongly persuaded that anyone not in “this fold” is not in Christ at all, or not in Christ enough, so they would sometimes proudly protest if they saw someone else anointed to do what they presume is their spiritual prerogative or monopoly (Mark 9:38-39; Luke 9:49-50).

Strange as it might sound, church ‘membership’ has killed some calls.  ‘Following’ a great name is not everyone’s path to ministry fulfilment.  Had Jesus not been discerning, and had He ‘membered’ that man….  It doesn’t take plenty of theology to be effective for God.  Being acclaimed a ‘great preacher’ doesn’t necessarily describe usefulness to God.  Just telling your story is sometimes a greater sermon than the most methodical theological treatise.

Once upon a time, the Holy Spirit attended a great prayer meeting where He loudly announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, prophets and teachers in this great house, while you may continue with your holy routines, your worship, your fasting and prayers, kindly release from this place two men for whom I have a different assignment.  Their dispensation in your midst has come to an end.  Henceforth, this is a wrong place for them if they should linger longer, whatever the sentiments for attachment might be” (Acts 13:1-3).  Graciously, those members had not become rigid with their walls.  They called those men out, prayed for them, and let them go.

How would anyone have thought that such a place, with such mighty moves of God, where God’s voice was present and clear, with “prophets and teachers” in their plural numbers, could be or become a wrong membership location for anyone in the world?  I wonder if the Holy Spirit would thus have dared to raise His voice in my congregation, about ‘my’ members, while I was ministering as powerfully as at the time He spoke to release those two?  I might have forced those two to start ‘here’ whatever they or the Holy Spirit thought they would do elsewhere.  I might have killed them slowly with membership at a place still right for everyone else but no longer for those.  It comes to the same thing: God’s fold is larger than might be defined by any ‘membership.’  Other sheep I have… And one private encounter, no matter how spectacular, whereas it might offer principles to guide others, cannot constitute the standard for measuring every other disciple. Amen.