Mark’s Gospel paints a beautiful picture of Jesus speaking to would be Christians. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17, NIV)

Jesus calls the disciples to a personal relationship, changed life and real purpose.

1. Personal relationship.  (win)
   

   • Jesus calls people to himself.  He says, “Come” (deute in *Greek), meaning to come now.  Jesus wanted them.  But he wasn’t just interested in what they would believe and do.  He was calling them to a personal relationship with himself (John 1:40-42).  And he didn’t want this to wait.
   

   • He ties the word come to “follow” (opiso in Greek), meaning to walk behind or accompany.  He wasn’t calling them to just an encounter, but to a life with him.
   

   • And Jesus is very clear about who they are to follow.  He says, come follow “me” (Greek - mou, a form of ego which is a primary pronoun only used when being emphatic).  Jesus is emphatically calling them to a personal journey with him.
   

   • So when we talk about “win” in the mission of youth ministry, herein is the biblical picture painted by Jesus himself.  It is the call to central relationship with Jesus. (deute opiso mou)
   

2. Changed life.  (build)
   

   • Jesus makes a promise to those who truly follow him.  He adds the conjunction “and.”
   

   • The promise is “and I will make you.”  It is a promise of unparalleled proportion.  It is a personal promise from the Son of God!
   

   • When Jesus says, “make” (Greek - poieso), He is speaking in the same terms in which we speak of construction, baking, character development or music.  He is saying that the Son of God, who made all things, will make something special of those that follow him.
   

   • In this case, Jesus is talking about a concept in youth ministry we call “build.”  It is the essence of what happens to a follower who gets to know Jesus intimately personal.  They begin to take on the character of Jesus.  They begin to mature in gifts uniquely identified to them.
   

3. Real purpose.  (send)
   

   • Everyone wants to live a life with meaning.  What could be more meaningful than to live a life with God.
   

   • And now Jesus is speaking in the same terms in which he speaks of God’s act in Creation (John 1:1-3).  The NIV silently translates a word that Jesus spoke in Mark 1:17.  Jesus told the disciples that he would make them “become” (Greek - genesthai, which means to come to exist) something they were not.  And Jesus was going to do it among true followers just as assuredly as he created life.
   

   • Mark’s Gospel is the older of it’s parallel Mt. 4:19 version.  Thus, it is important not to see genesthai (to become) as pertinent to the text rather than expansive.
   

   • Can you imagine any more meaningful and fulfilling purpose in life than impacting people?
   

   • Jesus unveils this promise in terms these first followers were very familiar with - fishing.  Jesus told these fishermen that they would become “fishers of men” as they followed him.
   

   • If they could make a living catching fish, what could it mean to catch people? It would mean they could have more than just a better life of their own. They could change the standard of living for others too! This is God’s quest. He wants you, me and everyone else to be with Him. And he does it person by person and person to person.
   

   • In youth ministry we talk about God’s will to “send.”  We are being sent to those who need Jesus and to those Jesus wants.
   

Win, build, send is more than clever philosophy.  It is the mission of Jesus Christ for all humanity.  It is more familiarly known in the church as “discipleship.”

That’s why I am a youth minister.  That’s also why I took the All Will Drive challenge.  :)

* The original copy of the New Testament books were written in common Greek language.  The Greek language is beautifully specific in comparison to most other written languages.