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Jesus doesn't call people who have it all together. Jesus calls people who are falling apart. Jesus doesn't choose people who meet the qualifications. Jesus chooses people who've been disqualified. Jesus doesn't wait for people to prove they're worthy. Jesus calls them anyway.

"Come and see." That's all Jesus said to his first disciples. Not "prove yourself." Not "convince me you're worthy." Not "pass this test." Just "come and see." There's something profound in this simple invitation. Because "come and see" means you don't have to have it all figured out before you start following Jesus.

In Jesus' day, becoming a disciple required proving yourself worthy. You had to demonstrate your qualifications and convince a rabbi you had what it takes. So most people were rejected. Then Jesus called fishermen and tax collectors—people already rejected or who never bothered applying. He tore down the barriers. But we keep rebuilding them. Who have we decided isn't qualified?

when we read about Jesus calling his first disciples in John 1, we need to understand how different this was from the normal system. Jesus doesn't examine their credentials. He doesn't ask them to prove themselves. He doesn't test their knowledge of Torah. He just says, "Come and see." So Jesus removed the barriers to becoming a disciple.

God moved toward you when you were an outsider. God welcomed you when you were unclean. God reconciled you when you were separated from him. And now God is calling you to do the same for others.

Jesus was willing to pay the price of moving toward people. He was willing to be criticized by religious leaders. He was willing to be misunderstood by the crowds. He was willing to risk his reputation for the sake of welcoming outsiders. And he calls us to do the same.

We're afraid that if we get too close to people whose lives are messy, we'll be contaminated. We're afraid that if we engage with people who are struggling, their problems will become our problems. We're afraid that if we associate with people others consider outsiders, we'll become outsiders too. So we keep our distance.

For Peter's entire life, he'd been taught that there were clean people and unclean people. There were insiders and outsiders. There were people you could associate with and people you couldn't. These categories weren't just social conventions. They were religious requirements. But God was telling Peter that those categories were wrong.

Jesus didn't need to be baptized. Everyone at the Jordan River was there because they were sinners seeking purification. Jesus was without sin, so he had no reason to step into that water. So why did Jesus insist? Because while we try to avoid what's unclean, God moves toward it. The question is: are we willing to do the same?

Jesus didn't get baptized because he needed to be purified. Jesus got baptized because he chose to identify with sinners. He chose to stand with people that everyone else said were unclean. He chose to move toward people instead of avoiding them. This is who God is. While we try to avoid what's unclean, God moves toward it.