Am I a Backslider?

Peter, a fisherman left his profession and became a disciple of Jesus Christ. He was called to be a fisher of men. Peter was a hyper in words and deeds. He competed with Jesus and even attempted to walk in the sea.  But when Jesus was arrested, he denied his association with his master altogether. He even cursed in that situation. He was like any other human who backslided in his faith. Thereafter in John chapter 21 we find Jesus pouring out his love to get back his backslidden friend.

Fisher

Jesus after his resurrection had asked his disciples to wait for him in Galilee. Peter did not obey to the words of his master. Still worse, he convinced six more disciples to join him to go back to his old fishing profession. The team tried the whole night to fish but ended in failure. Jesus appeared in the sea shore in the morning. On seeing Jesus, I think Peter in his desperation to catch fish all night, had a flash back of his first encounter with Jesus. In a similar situation he and his friends had obeyed Jesus and had caught so much fish that the net was about to tear. Now again they obeyed to the command of Jesus and caught 153 large fishes! I think Peter again has a flash back of how Jesus had called Peter to be a fisher of men.

Why then has Peter moved away from that call? Was it because of a low self-esteem which arose out of a guilt feeling after his public denial of Jesus Christ? Hyper-Peter again jumps into the water. What did Jesus say during a similar act of his earlier? “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31). I think he now realized his fault of going away from his faith for his master and also his call to be a fisher of men. God reminds backslidden believers even today through their failures, incidents of the past and many more ways. He gently reminds us of our primary call to be a fisher of men. His great commission for all his followers is to reach the nations with the gospel of Christ (Matthew 28:16-20).

Shepherd

It is interesting to see the concern of Jesus waiting to serve steaming breakfast to his disciples at the shore. “Come and dine” he called them (v.12).  Jesus kindly dealt with Peter first through a miracle then by feeding him and his friends. As Peter was slowly getting relieved from his guilt feeling, Jesus put his question straight: “Do you love me more than these? (the other disciples)” he asked.  Why did Jesus make a comparison here? This was probably because of the high claim of Peter earlier. In John 13:37 he was the one who said, “I’ll lay down my life for you.”  One another occasion Peter had said, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” (Matthew 26:33) Peter replied sheepishly now that he loved Jesus. Jesus repeated his question thrice to confirm this. Two times he asked Peter to feed his sheep and once to feed his lambs. God wanted Peter to physically and spiritually feed the needy people, just like how he did with him. Sheep are known for their stupidity. Again by mentioning about lambs, I think he shares his concern about small children and spiritual babes in the growing.  It becomes clear for us now that we as followers of Christ also need to feed the needy people around us both physically and spiritually.

Disciple

Who is a disciple? We find Jesus preparing the mind of Peter to face a difficult future because of him being a follower of Jesus. After saying that his sufferings during his death would ultimately be a glorifying experience, he says to Peter, “Follow me.” (v. 19) We find a typical Peter even now. He points his finger to John and asks Jesus, “What about him?” He probably thought John might have an easy future. Jesus chides Peter and plainly says, “What is that to you?  You must follow me.” Peter had his lesson on that day which helped him all through his life. He underwent suffering being a follower of Jesus and died as a martyr in a cross hanging upside down.  By not denying Jesus, he glorified God.

Every Christian must live the life of a disciple. Life is not a ‘bed of roses’ for a believer. Acts 14:22 says that only through many hardships one enters the kingdom of God. Jesus calls a backslidden believer even today with the same concern“Do you love me still?” What could be the reply and related responses be?