“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Neale Donald Walsch
Does anyone remember life before social media? A long time ago in a galaxy far far away. A time when the only thing tweeting was the bird in your backyard and when writing on someone’s wall unannounced would probably get you arrested.
I often think about how funny it would be if we treated real life like social media. How funny would it be to walk up to random people and retweet them. How about to deny someone’s friend request in person. “Hey, it was great to meet you the other day at the coffee shop. Can we be friends?” And you simply look them in the eyes, and say, “Friend Request Denied.”
Follow
There have been some words that have been lost in transition from virtual to reality. One example is the word “Follow.” In real life making the decision to follow someone could potentially be a creepy thing. Imagine if every time you approved a new friend request another person would line up behind you and begin to follow every move you make. Wherever you went, there they are… you have a “follower.”
When we talk about “following” someone these days we do not mean actually following them. What we mean is that we have made the choice to know things about that person. We see what they are doing. We know things about their life, like what dessert they ate last Thursday, or the name of their cat. But even though we know these things it does not necessarily mean that we know them. I follow tons of people that I have never met. I knowledge of them, but I don’t have a relationship with them.
The disciples actually followed Jesus. Literally. Everywhere he went there they were. What would it have been like to follow Jesus? What an amazing opportunity.
The Gospels are full of the accounts of ordinary people who followed Jesus, literally. They followed him everywhere he would go. The crazy thing about it is that his ministry did not extend much beyond the boarders of normal Jewish life at the time.
In Matthew Chapter 15 we see Jesus near the Sea of Galilee feeding 4,000 men, plus women and children. This is the area where Jesus spent most of his life and ministry. Then in the next chapter Jesus decides to lead his “followers” to a precarious place called Caesarea Philippi.
Caesarea Philippi
To us this is not a big deal, but to his followers this was a day they would never forget. First of all, this was undoubtably a place that they had never been to before. It was 25 miles away in the northern most area of Judea. This is the farthest north that Jesus had been in his ministry. Caesarea Philippi was a infamous place. It was a pagan place. King Herrod ruled there and because he was under Rome, he allowed this city to be a center of various Roman gods and goddesses. The city was famous because is had a huge rock that the entire town was built around. This rock could be seen for miles and it has pagan temples built into it. Here there were temples to Bail, Ashthroth, Zeus, Athena, Echo, Aphrodite and Pan just to name a few. Here they would see unimaginable things in the open for all eyes to see. Human sacrifice and temple prostitution were just a normal part of life in Caesarea Philippi. This is a town that had a slogan, “What happens in Caesarea Philippi stays in Caesarea Philippi.” Just kidding about the last part, but you get the point.
This is a place a good Jewish boy or girl would never step foot in, much less a Rabbi. But here Jesus is, leading his disciples on a field trip to a risky place. He leads them far from the familiar to a place that they had never been before.
Jesus takes the disciples to a place they will never forget and then has as conversation that they will never forget:
Matthew 16:13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”. 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
That had to be an amazing moment! I just imagine thunder roaring while Jesus says the words, “Upon this rock I will build my church.” A powerful promise! Jesus will build his church! Where will Jesus build his church? On this rock. This begs the question, what is the rock that he is talking about?
Scholars have mused about what exactly Jesus was talking about in this moment. Some say that the rock was Peter. Jesus was going to use Peter to build the church. He was going to use this ordinary guy to be a significant part of building his church. We know this indeed is what happened. God did use Peter to make a great difference! Others say that the rock was the revelation that Peter had. I believe this is right again!The church would be built upon Jesus and the revelation that he is indeed the son of the living God.
A Third Perspective
Not to take away from the other ideas, I want to add a third perspective on what the rock could have been. Could Jesus have also said what he said where he said it so that the disciples would never forget this moment. Get the picture, Jesus takes the disciples to a very risky place that is built on a massive rock and then says that he is going to build his church ON THIS ROCK.
I’m sure the disciples were thinking, “Here? Jesus, you must be crazy! You’re going to build your church here? Have you looked around? These people are messed up.” There is a lot better real estate than this! I believe Jesus trying to teach them something about their calling.
Jesus was trying to tell them is that their calling was beyond their comfort zone.
The disciples had spent most of their lives in a “Safe” familiar place. They lived in Judea, worked in Judea, had friends in Judea… all of live was lived in the confines of Judea. They were comfortable with this place. I’m sure they imagined themselves spending the rest of their lives in Judea living it up as famous disciples, enjoying all the perks of being one of those who were “Chosen” by Jesus.
With one trip to this not-so-far-away place, everything changes. What I have learned is that you’re calling usually is not very far away from where you are right now, but it usually lies on the other side of familiar.
• • •
Read:
Matthew 16
Ask:
Have you ever followed someone that you didn’t know personally? Have you ever met that person in person before?
Is your relationship with God knowledge-based or experiential?
Why did Jesus take the disciples to this place where they had never been before? Have you ever had a similar experience?t
What place/what people out of your “familiar” is God calling you to right now?
What can you do this week to
Speak:
“I have been created on purpose for a purpose.”
Pray:
Reach out to God this week about what he is calling you to do. Be real about your fears and doubts. Submit your life and future to Jesus.
