Unfettered Part 1

I started a new series last Wednesday in Youth Group called “Unfettered.” The goal is to subvert culture’s dictating who we must be by following the example of other faithful people. Then we can live unfettered by the world’s story prescribed for us, and follow Christ freely. This first lesson focuses on Jesus and His true calling for us.

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“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” Matthew 4:18-22

What if Jesus decided to change your story and replace it with a different one? In other words, if Jesus called you to drop your net (the future that you envision) and do something different, how would you respond? Would you immediately drop your nets like the disciples?

Jesus’ message seems so encouraging. Here we have someone promising us such great blessings. So when he calls us out of our boats to follow Him, it seems like a pretty good idea. It was for the apostles. It is not as though their future was all that exciting. They left a life of fishing for the chance to follow the Messiah around. We wonder why they so quickly dropped their nets. And the answer is obvious: following Jesus was a step up for many of the disciples. They were pretty well stuck in their lives. They would never be rabbis, scribes, Pharisees, or anyone important. So when Jesus comes to call them to something different, they readily dropped their nets. Perhaps this is the same reason few Pharisees responded to Jesus’ message—it was a step down for many of them.

Just as disciples were given a story, so are we—Jesus’ calling. For some it will be a relief. For others it will be very distressing. In our culture, we are told there is no other way out than buying into the story they are offering. You have to live a certain way, act a certain way, do certain things in order to succeed. But Jesus’ calling breaks the world’s mold of what is acceptable. His calling encourages us to live life unfettered by the world’s expectations. Yes, it will be uncomfortable if you take seriously the call of Christ. But he calls us to lay down our nets—some good, some bad. Some will find laying down their stories easy. Others will be very hesitant to leave the security in which they find themselves.

But it is not Jesus’ initial calling that is so difficult. It is the continued discipleship. Jesus’ promise of food and drink quickly changes to something very unappetizing:

“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

Basically Jesus is saying, “Unless you are willing to give up everything and suffer as I will suffer, don’t stay. You aren’t worthy. My food is my broken body. My drink is my spilled blood. My sustenance comes from suffering.” It is no wonder many left him after this. It is a hard teaching. It is a far cry from “Follow me and I will improve your life.” Yet the apostles stayed by His side, because they knew where the words of eternal life were.

The question is not, “Will you accept Christ’s story in addition to your current story?” The question is, “Will you give up the other story for Christ’s story? Will you drop your net? Will you drop your story?” For many of us, we are not in the position of the disciples. We are in the position of the Pharisees. The life he calls us to is not better by the world’s standards. You give up the things you like. You take on things you may vehemently dislike. Whoever comes to Jesus will never be hungry or thirsty because we will feast on Jesus’ body and blood—his very sufferings. Pursuing the Christian story promises many things, with suffering being near the top of the list.