Passion Redirected

By Connie Vandeman Jeffery

He was the perfect man for the job, except for all the times when he wasn’t.

Leadership requires a steady hand, a reasoned approach, and a great deal of tolerance. He tended to be flighty and impulsive, and he didn’t suffer fools gladly. Yet, when the fledgling Christian church in Jerusalem needed a leader, it was to him they turned.

How does one move from being an emotional tinderbox to the confident leader of an international movement commissioned with taking God’s love to the world?

Simon Peter was used to being in command—of fish. He usually knew where and when to find them. The Sea of Galilee was vast and deep; however, if you knew where to lower your net, you could usually earn a halfway decent living for yourself and your family. A fish’s number one aim in life is to not get caught. It was a constant battle between those in the boat and those under the boat. Time of day or night, the temperature of the air, and the amount of cloud cover all played a vital role in determining when and where fish schooled.

Peter knew this and had learned how to use the elements and the position of the sun and stars to decide the right place and the right time to cast his nets. His reward was the heavy tug as he and his partners attempted to pull their catch on board. That tug meant that he’d been successful, and he, his family, and his community could eat and survive another day.

Then, one night, it all fell apart.

Rocky road

The road leading to that fateful night had been filled with victories and defeats. It had all begun a few years back when Peter and his brother Andrew had left their nets to follow a transient teacher named Jesus (Matthew 4:18-20). Transient teachers were common in the land— offering a chance for men and women to become more than what they thought they were destined to be. If you followed the right one, you could lift yourself out of poverty and into the more accepted world of the learned and respected.

Peter and Christ’s relationship had been rocky from day one, filled with a few high points and many low points along the way. Peter had, at one time, proclaimed for all to hear that Jesus was the Son of God (Matthew 16:16) then later denied knowing Him (Matthew 26:72). He’d been present to witness loving miracle after loving miracle, yet, when Christ was being arrested, he’d pulled out his sword and impulsively cut off a man’s ear (John 18:10) in order to save his Master. He’d heard the words spoken by Christ—words of assurance and hope—yet he abandoned Him when He needed him most.

Peter’s main barrier to leadership was his fiery

temper. However, it was that same attribute that Jesus regarded as a plus—a beneficial trait that would be of great value to the mission of the early church. It just couldn’t remain in its present form. It would have to be completely redirected, adjusted, and fine-tuned. I find it telling that when Christ rebranded Peter by giving him his new name, He did so not after the fisherman had learned to live more Christ-like but while he was still fiery-tempered and rough-edged.

He’d just hit a high note by answering Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?” Peter announced loudly and confidently, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” (Matthew 16:15-16, NIV).

What came next should provide an incredible amount of confidence to any modern-day Peters who doubt their leadership abilities due to an occasional lack of control. It wasn’t that Jesus was condoning His outspoken disciple’s hot-tempered actions. Rather, He was highlighting the passion that drove them. The same level of passion that is needed to accomplish great evil can also be used to accomplish great good.

With an encouraging smile, Christ told him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” Then He added, “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” (Matthew 16:17-18, NIV).

By the sea

Which brings us back to the shores of the Sea of Galilee a few short years later and a meeting be-

tween the recently risen Savior and the grief-stricken Peter. You can read it for yourself in John 21.

The disciples had all seen their teacher die— from a safe distance. They’d witnessed His burial. They’d spent a shattered weekend searching for reasons why. They’d heard Mary Magdalene’s report of the empty tomb and had gazed in disbelief into its dark, deserted confines.

Christ had visited the disciples a couple of times since the resurrection, but it wasn’t the same. And neither was Peter. Since the death of his Master, his passion had been stilled. Where there’d been fire, there remained little more than a few embers. Without Jesus as a constant presence in his life, he, along with the rest of the disciples, felt adrift, useless, alone.

Finally, they’d returned to their homes, ready to resume life where they’d left it three years earlier.

That’s where we find Peter in John 21, in a boat, with his friends, returning from a night of fishing. In the early-morning fog they see someone on the shore who asks how their fishing is going. “Not so good,” they shout over the still waters. “Not a bite all night.”

“Throw your net on the other side of your boat,” comes the distant reply. They reluctantly do it, and their net becomes full and heavy.

That’s when it hits them. The voice in the fog belongs to Jesus.

There soon follows a heart-rending, private conversation between Christ and Peter. At the trial in Jerusalem, the fisherman had denied knowing Christ three times. There, by the calm sea, as daylight crept over the landscape, Jesus gives the hot-tempered man three opportunities to reestablish their lost connection. Three times He asks, “Simon, do you love me?” Three times Peter responds, “Yes I do.”

“Feed my sheep. Take care of my lambs,” Jesus urges with each assurance of love from the contrite man.

Jesus ends their back and forth with a repeat of the very same invitation He’d offered years before on the shore. He simply says, “Follow me.”

Something changed forever in Peter at that moment. Not his passion. Not his great desire to act. They were the same as always. No, the change was the motivation for his passions and actions. It was no longer about himself—about acting in his own best interest. It was about the sheep he was to feed. It was about the lambs for whom he was to care. It was all about the Master he was following

With his passion so redirected, he was as steady as the rock Jesus had promised he would become. He was now ready to lead. And that’s exactly what he did.

Connie Vandeman Jeffery is associate director of communication and community engagement of the Pacific Union Conference.