Versification (verses put into scripture for referencing), although very useful, often messes up how we understand, read, and obey Scripture. This is increasingly evident in our view of salvation and discipleship.

In Mark 1:15 Jesus says ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’ Most versions however, break up the next line and make it its own subject. The next few verses contain the well known ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’

We have allowed the separation of verses to warp our understanding and we now separate salvation from discipleship. We have made salvation something that happens at the end of a message where you come down front and discipleship where you go on Sunday night with a small group of people and learn.

Jesus clarified what it means to believe and repent with his statement ‘Follow me’. Following Jesus reveals what you believe and what you repent from.

‘Follow me’ requires 3 things:

• Leaving: let go of what was in order to follow what is

• Responsibility: Take care of what needs to be taken care of, so that you can take care of what needs to be taken care of.

• A Leader: you are following someone, who is it?

Too often we invite people to ‘repent & believe’ and they experience no life change and have no gospel impact on the world because of the gap we have created to ‘Follow me’. We have left ‘Follow me’ to the hyper-Christians or pastors.

It’s time to remove the gap.