“We have turned the tables; we try to live so that He will love us, rather than living because He has already loved us.” BRENNAN MANNING
Today, I wanted to draw your attention to Peter for a moment, very specifically, what happened to Peter post denying Jesus.
According to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John who so kindly made sure to include Peter’s worst moment in their gospel accounts, we know that Peter was filled with remorse after denying knowing Jesus. We know that tears were flowing freely when Peter caught a glimpse of Jesus after his third and final denial. And we know that Peter decided to go fishing… yes, fishing!
After seeing a resurrected Jesus…
After hearing a resurrected Jesus…
After ALL that, Peter went fishing.
Why fishing?
Peter was a fisherman, at least that’s who he was prior to meeting Jesus. But after meeting Jesus and saying, ‘yes’ to Jesus’s invitation to ‘follow him’, Peter was given a new mission — fishing for people.
So, why on earth would Peter go back to what he was doing before he started following Jesus?
In short — FAILURE.
For Peter, I’m not sure he had a category for failure. After all, he did tell Jesus that he’d NEVER deny Him (see Matthew 26:35). And when Peter did what he said he’d never do (deny Jesus), well, he went back to the one thing that was most familiar and comfortable to him… fishing. At least in fishing, Peter would not have to deal with feeling like a failure.
This to me is the beauty and power of the Ragamuffin Gospel —
FAILURE FUELS ME TO RUN TO JESUS NOT AWAY FROM HIM.
When I was lost in a world of performance-driven faith, in my failures (which were many), I ran away from Jesus to what was most familiar and comfortable to me… and I can tell you it wasn’t fishing :).
Why did I run away? Simple… performance people believe that we need to ‘do’ in order to ‘get.’ And in failure, we’re not going to get because we’re not doing what He wants.
Very backwards and unbiblical thinking on my part, but when you’re lost in a world of ‘performance’, it makes total sense. And at the time, what made zero sense was that Jesus would NEVER withhold His love or affection or kindness or presence from me… even in the midst of my horrific failures… which were many.
Maybe you know this, but just in case you don’t, you should…
You will fail.
You will fall short.
You will make some seriously sinful and selfish choices.
Following Jesus is NOT about trying as hard as you can to NOT sin.
Rather, following Jesus is about, well, FOLLOWING JESUS. And even when you sin (and we will all sin), following Jesus entails coming back to ALL that Jesus has for you. And just so you know, when you come back, there is not a frown on the face of Christ but a smile that you did not go fishing (metaphorically speaking).
Please be reassured that Jesus is not disappointed in you… and yes, that is even more true in your failures. Does Jesus want us to sin? Of course not! But Jesus knows that we will and what does He do? Well, the Apostle Paul provides a great answer to that —
“As people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant.” Romans 5:20 (NLT)
If you’ve been fishing for some time now, come back and be part of His mission of helping ALL people see just how amazing our Savior is.
