Follow the Leader

Last night, we started a new curriculum in my bible study. Go Fish by Andy Stanley. It centers around Matthew 4:19. "and He said to them, 'follow me and I will make you fishers of men'. "

God wants us to not only live our lives for Him, but also to bring others into His light. I struggle with this -- not because I disagree with the notion; I wholeheartedly agree -- but because I find myself feeling unworthy of such an important task.

Who am I to tell others how to live their lives? What gives me the right, the fortitude to dictate what others should do? Now don't get me wrong here, I fully believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. I ardently believe that it is our jobs, as Christ-followers, to shine His light for others.

My qualm is more in that I struggle with my faith on a daily basis. If I don't feel that I am 100% right with the Lord, how can I tell someone else that they need to be? So the question ensues, do you need to be the perfect follower to lead?

When I take the question out of the context of myself, I think absolutely not. We are human. We all fall short. That should not, cannot, take us out of our faith. If anything, it should bring us closer to God. We need to use our trials and tribulations -- past, present and future -- to show others what we have found in Christ. We need to think outside ourselves, we are not the main objective here. Jesus is.

So while you absolutely have to follow in order to lead, you, in no way, need to be perfect. So long as you are living you're life for Him as best you can, He will help you the rest of the way. So go on, be fishers of men -- and women -- for Him.