What would happen if you had a job interview with Jesus?
Recently, I got a very intriguing email from my friend John in Oklahoma, who is also involved in prison ministry. I’m just going to read the email to you because that’s where I got the idea for today’s episode about how to prepare for a job interview with Jesus.
Here’s John’ email:
This idea just came to me out of the blue – sort of. I was thinking about the problem of preparing inmates for a parole board hearing. How can we help with that so they are successful? At the same time, in my small business (Air BNB lodge in Wyoming), I am looking at hiring a high school intern for the summer. So I interviewed a 15 year old young adult for the job.
For some reason, I thought this might be an interesting topic for The Bible Speaks to You Podcast. How could we prepare for a job interview with Jesus? Jesus had guys and gals who “worked” for him. Most of them were very unlikely candidates for the job – they were not particularly learned nor did they have any past job experience (other than throwing nets into the lake and hoping they would trap some fish). Yet, at least 11 out of 12 of the men disciples turned out pretty good. We don’t have any historical info on the lady disciples, but as far as we know they all turned out pretty good. That is an excellent success rate in my opinion.
It’s interesting that Jesus allows their past experience of fishing for fish to be adequate job experience for fishing for men.
First of all, John, I want to thank you for that email. It really gave be some food for thought.
Of course, Jesus didn’t post flyers in the market place or advertise that he was going to hire a bunch of men and women to be his disciples. And he didn’t post a notice in the synagogue that he would select 12 men as Apostles, or 70 others to go out and preach.
So, in one way this is kind of an odd thing to think about. But John, your email got me to thinking about how we can be better prepared to respond to whatever it might be Christ is calling us to do today.
His disciples did not have an interview with Jesus to get their jobs
So, how did Jesus choose his disciples? They did not fill out an application. They didn’t show up for an interview. They didn’t even know such a position existed. And they may or may not have even felt they were qualified.
In fact, when Peter and Andrew caught more fish than their nets could handle, after a night of not catching a single fish, but trying one more time at Jesus’s command, Peter felt completely unworthy to even be in Jesus’s presence.
When Simon Peter saw this [his net breaking because there were so many fish in it], he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Luke 5:8 NIV
But that is exactly when Jesus called Peter, along with his brother Andrew, to follow him.
Peter did not apply for this job of following Jesus. He didn’t even know what it involved. At that point, he only had the promise Jesus made him and his brother Andrew that day:
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
At once they left their nets and followed him. Matthew 4:19, 20 NIV
Jesus chose his disciples carefully
Jesus chose James and John pretty much the same way. He found them. He called them to follow him. And they did.
What about some of Jesus’s other disciples?
From the book of John, it seems that Andrew was probably one of the first to believe Jesus to be the Messiah.
Andrew had been a follower of John the Baptizer, who indicated to Andrew that Jesus was the Messiah.
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). John 1:35-37, 40, 41, NIV
The book of John goes on to describe how Jesus chose Philip and Nathanael.
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” John 1:43, 45-49 NIV
Quick to respond
I’ve always been deeply moved by the fact that Andrew, Philip, Nathanael and others accepted so readily that Jesus was the Messiah. And the fact that when Jesus embarked on his public ministry, he knew exactly who to choose to help him.
I love the simplicity with which he chose Matthew to be one of his followers.
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Matthew 9:9 NIV
That seems pretty abrupt, doesn’t it? But by this point in Jesus’s ministry, he had been teaching, preaching, and healing throughout the region and had quite a reputation. Undoubtedly, Matthew must have heard of this Jesus preacher fellow and it didn’t take him long to decide to want to be part of that and follow him.
Imagine what it would have been like to hear Jesus preach, to hear him teach in the Temple, or see him heal someone. If you had been in those crowds of people jostling to get close to him, what would you have been thinking? What would be in your heart?
Of course, it’s hard to know, but I hope I would have taken to heart everything he said and tried to do and think and love the way he taught.
What if I had a job interview with Jesus?
The questions I sometimes think about are: Would I have chosen to follow Jesus if I had lived back then? Would Jesus have chosen me to be one of his disciples? I would love to answer yes, but there are times, when I’m honest with myself, that I realize I haven’t always had the humility Jesus was looking for.
It required a lot of the men and women who chose to follow Jesus then. And it requires a lot of us who choose to follow him today.
Peter said at one point he had left everything to follow Jesus. He and others had made a conscious choice to follow Jesus.
Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” Luke 18:28 NIV
But Jesus looks at this issue of choosing and following him from a broader, spiritual perspective. Jesus tells his disciples:
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. John 15:16 NIV
Jesus prayed before choosing his disciples
Jesus chose who his disciples would be. And this was not always an easy choice. In fact, on the night before he decided to appoint twelve of his followers as Apostles, he stayed up all night praying.
One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Luke 6:12, 13 NLT
Have you ever stayed up all night praying about an important decision? Sometimes it may because we don’t hear an answer from God and we keep listening for what to do. Sometimes it may be because God has told us exactly what to do and we’re wrestling with our own reluctance, for whatever reason, to do what God has told us.
One thing we know about Jesus is he only did what the Father told him to do, And I know, I’m reading between the lines here, but it may have been that God was telling Jesus to choose Judas Iscariot as one of the twelve apostles and that he would betray him. No wonder he was up all night in prayer, coming to terms with that.
If that was the case, it might have been a little preview of what would happen in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus submitted his will to God’s will.
What if you had an interview with Jesus for a job?
Let’s come back to this idea of you having and interview with Jesus for a job. I know, it doesn’t really make sense in light of everything I’ve mentioned about how Jesus chose his disciples.
But the point is, we need to think about is how we can be prepared to accept the call when Christ chooses us today to follow him.
Or, to follow the job interview metaphor: What does it mean to be hired by and work for Christ?
It all boils down to following him by putting his teachings into practice in our daily lives.
Saying you’ll follow Christ doesn’t always mean you do
Several times people came to Jesus, proclaiming their faith, loyalty, and desire to follow him, but the implication is they didn’t, at least not at that time.
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him [Jesus], “I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:57-62 NIV
In effect, these men were applying for the job of following Jesus, but they didn’t follow through. When Christ calls you to follow him, it means he has chosen you. It is up to you to respond.
How we can be prepared
So, what can we do to prepare ourselves to be ready when Christ calls us to follow him?
Well fortunately, we have the advantage of being able to read the words of Jesus, to study his life, and to put his ideas into practice. I cannot emphasize this point enough. The best way to be prepared to respond to this call is to obey Jesus’s commands, to do everything he told us to do, to imbibe his spirit of obedience to God’s will.
One of the best places to start is the Sermon on the Mount. One of the best places to continue is in the Sermon on the Mount. When you’re making an honest effort to do everything Jesus says to do in this sermon, your heart is getting closer to, and more like, Christ every day. And you will hear Christ calling you, choosing you each day for his holy purpose.
And this is really important to remember. Christ calls you in a fresh way each new day. Christ is constantly choosing you to follow him, so you can let your light shine out into the world.
I believe deeply Christ is constantly choosing and calling everyone to follow him, to be his disciple, to work for him. But just as in Jesus’s time, so today, not everyone hears or responds to this call.
To follow Christ takes dedication and consistency. It requires giving up our own self-oriented approach to life and our own personal desires. Jesus put it this way:
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 NIV
Jesus makes it clear what is required of us, but he also points out there has to be a desire to follow him, that you have to want to be his disciple: “Whoever wants to be my disciple”…and then he gives the qualifications. When you really do desire to follow Jesus, then you’ll do what is required.
Christ’s call on your life
Have you heard Christ calling you to follow him? Have you heard Christ calling you to a particular daily task, or perhaps a life purpose, and perhaps not felt ready or qualified? Do you ever compare yourself to someone else and think they would do a better job than you could?
Or do you see someone else doing something and think you could do a better job than they are?
The truth is, Christ doesn’t always call you for what you think you’re qualified to do. There may be some lesson or talent you haven’t learned yet that’s more important than doing something you can already do.
Years ago I met a man who had been a very successful newspaper man and was called for an interview at his church’s international offices. He was sure it was to head up their media presence. A friend of his, who had been very successful in the banking industry was called for an interview at the same time. He was convinced he would be asked to fill the top financial position in the church.
But just the opposite happened. The newspaper man was asked to be the treasurer, or you might call it the CFO. And the banker was asked to play a major role in the media division.
Just because you’re qualified for a job, and could do it better than anyone else, doesn’t mean that’s what Christ will call you to do.
The disciples didn’t need an interview with Jesus: he knew what was in their hearts
Jesus’s disciples did not have professions that particularly qualified them for what Jesus called them to do. But Jesus saw what was in their hearts and knew what they were capable of.
Christ would not be calling you if you weren’t capable of following. He would not choose you to follow him if you were unable.
Fortunately, you don’t have to fill out an application to get an interview with Jesus to follow him, to be his disciple, and to obey his teachings. Jesus’s disciples chose to follow him because they were convinced he was the Messiah.
And I think the interesting thing is, Jesus chose to interact with them in a way that they would be able to perceive he was the Christ. He didn’t just randomly show up when John the Baptizer called him the Lamb of God. Jesus chose a moment when Andrew was there to hear it.
Jesus didn’t just happen to show up when Peter had spent all night fishing without catching anything. He knew exactly what he was doing and chose his timing carefully.
How is Christ showing up in your life to convince you Jesus is the Messiah? How are you being impelled to practice Jesus’s teachings in your daily life? How do we prepare our hearts to hear Christ’s call?
Christ is constantly calling you. Christ constantly chooses you to follow him, to work for him. How will you respond?
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James Early, the Jesus Mindset Coach, is a Bible teacher, speaker, and church mentor. He conducts Bible workshops online and in person. His focus is on getting back to the original Christianity of Jesus by embracing the mindset of Christ in daily life. Contact him here.
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Bible References
Luke 5:8 NIV
8 When Simon Peter saw this [his net breaking because there were so many fish in it], he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”
Matthew 4:19, 20 NIV
19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
John 1:35-37, 40, 41, NIV
35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.
36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.
41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).
John 1:43, 45-49 NIV
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
Matthew 9:9 NIV
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
Luke 18:28 NIV
28 Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”
John 15:16 NIV
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Luke 6:12, 13 NLT
12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.
13 At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles.
Luke 9:57-62 NIV
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him [Jesus], “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:23 NIV
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
