“Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men”
“Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men”
God is the One who calls to the ministry. He may call people who are not thinking about this matter at all: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you” (Jn 15:16).
The Lord passed by Peter and Andrew, and they were busy fishing, having stayed up all night and caught nothing. And while they were occupied with worldly matters and failing in them, He said to them: “Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt 4:19). Thus the success of ministry was not due to their zeal…
In the same way, He passed by Matthew while he was absorbed in the tax office, and said to him, “Follow Me,” and He passed by Saul of Tarsus while he was busy persecuting the Church and called him to ministry as a chosen vessel to guide the nations…
The Lord knows the types of souls suitable for catching people, even if they are busy catching fish. He knows where they are and calls them to His service…
“Come after Me, and I will make you…”
You cannot minister unless you walk after Christ…
After Him in His manner and His way, in His calling, and in everything… You must have discipleship to Christ, knowing how to walk after Him. Then He makes you a fisher of men.
You cannot make yourself a fisher; rather, He makes you.
Neither your intelligence nor your experience, nor any other leadership, nor your effort nor your skill, but Christ is the One who makes you a fisher of men.
You will toil all night and catch nothing, until the Lord comes and teaches you how to cast your nets into the depths, and says to you: Come after Me. Walk in My way and My manner, with My person and My method, and I will make you, I will choose you, I will send you My grace, I will place My Spirit in you, and I will teach you the fishing.
A winner of souls is wise:
A winner of souls has many qualities: active, intelligent, sacrificial. But one of his most important qualities is to be wise… Look at how Paul the Apostle said: “To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win the Jews… to the Greeks as a Greek, that I might win the Greeks… to those without law as without law… I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Cor 9:20–22).
Let the servant be wise, but with divine wisdom, coming down from above.
The wisdom of a person who has experienced the spiritual path, walked in it, knows the nature of people, knows spiritual wars and the tricks of the demons. He knows how to say the word suitable for each person at the right time.
There are servants who led others in wrong ways, imposing duties above their level, making the path difficult before them, and they became complicated.
These servants became like the Pharisees who placed heavy burdens, hard to bear, on people’s shoulders, thinking that difficulty meant a higher level. They neither entered nor allowed those entering to enter.
They teach people ideals outside the scope of practical application…
They themselves have not experienced them… but only knew them by hearing or reading. They say to people: Whoever does not do such-and-such is not a servant, and whoever does not do such-and-such is not a Christian—and the listeners become confused, and perhaps leave the ministry…
They forget Paul’s saying: “I fed you with milk and not with solid food, for until now you were not able” (1 Cor 3:2), and the saying of the apostles: “We should not trouble those who are turning to God from among the nations” (Acts 15:19), and the saying of the Lord of Glory: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (Jn 16:12).
We do not burden people, but this does not mean that we become lenient.
No—we do not become lenient in any commandment of God. But we train them in them one by one. We progress with them until they reach…
Also, if you want to be a fisher of men, do not involve them in your personal problems, nor imprint people with your personal pattern.
Do not try to lead them all into monasticism if you love monasticism. And do not push them toward marriage if that is your own path.
Do not speak to them about the problems of the Church if you have a problem.
Every person you meet in ministry has his own personality and his own level.
He has his own circumstances and his own nature. He may not be a copy of you. Leave him in his path. Guide him to pure truth, not to the path you believe in and choose for yourself… You may love solitude, and he may love service. Perhaps the solitude that suits you does not suit him.
The wise fisher has a prominent quality: patience.
He casts the net or the hook and waits. He may wait long, but he does not grow weary. So too is the fisher of men… If you are easily bored, wanting quick fruit in ministry, or else you leave it, then you are not a wise fisher. If you give advice and the listener does not act upon it, do not be distressed, and do not grow weary of advising.
Ministry requires longsuffering toward sinners until they repent.
Be patient with the stubborn student in your class, and patient with the wayward youth, and patient with the one bound by a habit until he is freed from it…
The Lord Christ also likened Himself in ministry to the sower who went out to sow. And the sower is also very patient. He scatters his seeds and does not rush them to sprout. Every plant has its nature, and it will appear in the fullness of time.
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