Jesus’ call to Peter and his brother Andrew should be seen as Jesus’ call to us. Jesus “… saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Unfortunately, most of us have become keepers of the aquarium, rather than fishers of men. We’re not even do a very good job feeding and caring for those in the aquarium. Did you know that the fastest growing religion in America today is Islam? Omaha was blasted the week of 9/11 with a flyer on Islam. “Islam: The way of life of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.” It presents Islam as a peaceful religion. It says, “Islam is an Arabic word which means peaceful, willing submission to the code of conduct ordained by God.” But no matter how twisted the description of Islam is in this flyer, or no matter how the truth is “spun” to make it look good, the truth remains that Islam, like all false religions, is just another attempt of man to find a way to earn God’s acceptance apart from exclusive faith in Jesus, the one who died for our sins.
The “salvation by works” is clear even in this twisted flyer. It says, “an act of goodness will elevate a person closer to God.” It also says, “By following God’s guidance as revealed in the Quran, an individual can obtain meaning and purpose in this life and eternal paradise in the hereafter.” It dismisses Jesus’ claims in the Bible and clearly says that Islam “…is the way of life ordained by God which was taught by each of His prophets and messengers, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.”
This is simply a lie. Jesus is not just one of the prophets in a long line of prophets which finds it’s fulfillment in Muhammad. He is the one and “only” Son of God who came into the world to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our inability to save ourselves through a set of rules, laws, practices, religious observations, good deeds, or anything else. No matter what set of rules one might live by, without Christ, “no man can come to the Father.”
Whereas Islam has become increasingly aggressive in their evangelistic efforts in America, Christians have been silenced and humiliated into becoming keepers of the aquarium, rather than fishers of men. Wilbur Chapman wrote, “ If I wish to be approved at the last, then let me remember that no intellectual superiority, no eloquence in preaching, no absorption in business, no shrinking temperament or no spirit of timidity can take the place of or be an excuse for my not making an honest, sincere, prayerful effort to win others to Christ.”
Chuck
“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1-2)