I don't know that I have ever stepped back from the gospel stories so as to consider that those first disciples attached themselves to Jesus assuming that he was potentially a great rabbi, but not really suspecting He was anything more than that.
They certainly didn't assume they were walking alongside the Son of God.
Not at first.
They likely were thinking no more than "Here is a man who can teach me about God."
It was only over time that the thought started to dawn on them, very slowly, "Wait a minute - This IS God!"
I think pastors need to be OK with folks in their congregations who take their time in deciding that Jesus is more than a good teacher of morality.
After all, the disciples were physically with Jesus 24/7 for 3 years and still struggled to grasp exactly who He was.
Hopefully the light bulb comes on eventually.
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