Matthew 4:18-25
And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
Vision Casters
Have you ever had to follow a friend while driving somewhere and it’s like they had no care in the world that you were trying to keep up with them? They’re speeding through yellow lights, taking off as fast as they can, and you end up having to call them to find out how in the world to get to where you’re going. I know these people can be frustrating, and the sad thing is, I’m afraid I’m totally this person! Someone will say, “Hey, I’ll follow you.”, and somewhere down the road I look in my rearview mirror and think, “Where in the world did they go?” Then I get the phone call, “Hey! Where are you? I lost you a mile back!” No one’s perfect guys, I’m trying to get better at this!
When someone’s following you, it demands that you’re twice as mindful as you would usually be. You obviously need to keep an eye on the road and path ahead of you, but you also need to keep an eye on those following to make sure they’re not getting caught up in the traffic.
Jesus was very mindful about who was following Him. So much so, that he hand chose a few to follow the closest, his disciples. This scripture in Matthew 4 amazes me because these dudes dropped everything they had in one moment and followed Jesus. Who in their right mind would do such a thing, honestly? If some guy walked into your office today and said, “Hey, put down that stapler, quit your job, follow me, and I’ll make you stapler of men.” You’d probably be like, “Who let this nutcase in the building?”
So why did these guys leave everything to follow Jesus? I believe, among many reasons, that Jesus gave them a glimpse into the greatness that was possible for them. I believe Jesus created a vision of something great for them and their futures that far exceeded what just casting nets for fish could do. Jesus was casting his own net to these guys, the net of Vision. As leaders we cast vision that enables others to see what is possible in their own life.
Heres a few ways as a leader, Jesus was able to catch these guys with His vision:
- He had a vision for His own life.
People want to follow someone who has a vision for their own life and knows where they’re going. You don’t get behind the guy who doesn’t know the road ahead of them, so as leaders, it’s important to always be communicating where it is we see ourselves going. And not just as a group. I think it’s even more compelling when a leader has a strong personal vision for their own life. A leader who has their core values in order and has a strong sense of personal direction will attract people much more than someone who doesn’t know where they are going in life.
2. He invited others into His vision.
Call me captain obvious, but I think the disciples followed Jesus because he asked them to. Everybody wants to be a part of something great, but even more importantly, everybody wants someone great to acknowledge them and invite them to be a part of that great something. There was something compelling to these disciples about becoming fishers of men, and Jesus put out the invitation. There’s this awesome video on the internet of Keith Urban at a concert when he invites some stranger from the audience up on stage to play his guitar because this guy’s girlfriend is holding a sign that says, “It’s my boyfriend’s birthday, can he play your guitar?” This dude gets on stage and absolutely kills it! Amazing guitar player. You can tell that Keith Urban and his band are shocked. They end up playing a whole song together and it’s amazing. I definitely recommend going and watching it. Hit the play button:
You know this guys biggest dream came true that day. Don’t lie, you know you have fantasies of these kind of things happening to you! Maybe not at playing the guitar, but in the areas you have great hopes and aspirations in.
One of the greatest privileges as a leader is getting to identify the greatness in someone else, and cast a vision that allows them to see the possibilities of their hopes and dreams like they never had before.
Today, let’s not just keep our eyes on the road before us, but let’s take time to identify those who are wanting to follow and go out of our way to cast a little vision to help make their dreams come true.
God Bless you guys!
Clay