Fishers of Fish – Fishers of Men

And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. Mark 1:17

I have been blessed to have an excellent employee, and his name is Max.  Aside from being as good an employee as I can imagine, Max is an accomplished fisherman.  If you knew him you would agree with me, and even say that I understate Max’s fishing qualities.  I have not met another person who loves, enjoys and involves himself in the sport of fishing more than this man.  His very nature exudes the fishing instinct.  Well, I learned the other day that Max and another man who has worked for me briefly in the past were planning a fishing trip this past week-end,  so I sort of invited myself along.  For years my secret admiration for fishermen and a desire to really learn the sport myself has been incubating in my soul.  This summer, it finally came to fruition on a job for a customer of mine who has a cabin in Buena Vista.  There just happens to be a small lake on the property where the cabin is, and it is stocked with fish just waiting to be caught.  Max and I were summoned to go up to this place to do some repairs and some painting on this cabin.  Well, needless to say, we did a little fishing when the day’s work had ended each evening.  Max did most of the catching but I landed a couple, which was enough to infect me with a very bad case of  the fishing virus.  Later, this customer was gracious enough to allow some friends and me to return to the cabin for a week-end and, yes more fish were hauled out of this lake, both by myself as well as by the entire family that accompanied me there. 

Now this past week-end was the time for the big fisherman (that’s me) to go out again and prove his newly acquired skills in this ancient art.  And so I did.  Max, Kevin and I drove to a somewhat remote and somewhat secret spot underneath a nearby mountain. We hiked up high and descended to a series of reservoirs with a fairly small lake in betwixt them and proceeded to hook our prey.  Max, of course pulled out the first one, which turned out to be the largest of the day, and I almost immediately snagged the next one, which was a brown trout nearly as large as Max’s.  The remainder of the afternoon was pure enjoyment with varying degrees of excitement and placidness.  I’ve learned at this advanced age that there are few joys in life (I say this facetiously) that compare with seeing one’s fishing line begin to slowly “dance” in the water, and then, begin to resist my pull, with the ensuing contest between the fish and I as I pull him in.  On one occasion back in Buena Vista the fish jumped off my hook somehow, and I immediately cast my pole to the ground and prostrated my self on the edge of the water, grabbed him and tossed him up on the road.  Where have I been all of these years?

          After some time together with these others on this little mountain lake, they decided to check out one of the nearby larger reservoirs.  I went to the other side of the lake where the thick forest bordered and shaded the shoreline, and enjoyed the solitude there for maybe a couple of hours.  I remember distinctly praying that God would show me how to be an effective fisher of men.  Shortly after this, another little fellow decided to take hold on my bait and the contest was on again, with me the victor.  What worldly fishermen call “luck,” which in reality is God sending fish to bite onto my hook was happening before my novice eyes.  What a blissful scene it was.  I was sitting and standing alternately on a mucky-sandy little beach next to beautiful virgin forest, having forgotten the world and all of my cares, just being there with the fish, the Lord and nature.  Later, when I ran out of bait, I went searching for and found the other guys, and shortly thereafter left for home alone, as they decided to stay and cook up their catch.

          Some analogies between the two kinds of fishing have come to mind through this experience and other thoughts I have had recently.  Fishing (for fish) is a fun sport, but real fishermen take it quite seriously.  Those bumper stickers about wives being missed because they departed from their double-minded husbands who loved fishing more than they, could be quite true.  Point #2:  Besides being a passion, fishing must be done intelligently in order for a consistent harvest of fish.  True, one might go out, toss a hook and line in some body of water and inadvertently snag a fish.  But for the most part, a certain study of the situation and conditions must be conducted, and a knowledge of the adversary (the fish) must be obtained.  And, Point #3 (although there are surely many more) persistence, patience and perseverance are necessary qualities for anyone one who would continue on in this sport.  Some degree of money and time must be invested, as well.  Max, on his painter’s wage was able, recently to purchase a used fishing boat equipped with a fairly strong motor, for a relatively inexpensive price.  Max is a serious fisherman, and our roles were reversed on our little trip this week-end, as he led the venture. 

          I cannot help but compare my newly found hobby of fishing with what I have experienced in the past and observe in the very present of the larger church’s efforts at fishing for the souls of men.  You, reader are probably expecting some strong criticism here.  I don’t really have to say a word about this, because I’m sure that we all feel that our efforts in this area have been pitifully lacking in every way.  I think I can say with honesty and quite accurately that, apart from our gimmickry in appealing to the felt needs of people in our communities for enlarging our would-be mega-churches, contemporary Christians have, fairly well given up on concerted evangelistic enterprises.  I hope that is not too harsh an assessment, although there are sure exceptions to this everywhere.  Being wise and active in not only delivering a word to those without Christ, but willing to make the necessary sacrifices in order to, not only win them, but to disciple them personally is the calling upon every believer. Because of our economic relationship, I have been able to disciple Max, even to engaging in extended Bible studies with him. 

The analogy breaks down, however at some point between the two kinds of fishing.  Just landing the sinner “on the shore” (bringing him to a church meeting) is usually not enough.  Even leading him (hopefully under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit) in some “sinner’s prayer” is not enough either.  In the past several years I’ve had the honor of knowing and meeting with a man named Jim Downing, one of the few remaining Navigators, who worked with the organization’s founder, Dawson Trotman.  Mr. Downing (as I call him) has imparted a wealth of knowledge to me in the “art of disciple-making.”  I’ve learned however, that people in our (and every) generation need more than facts and principles to study in becoming a true follower of Jesus.  Like Paul, we are passing on a kind of life, not just information, but a treasure that cost Christ His all on the cross, and, indeed costs us our all as we give it out to others.

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.  So then death worketh in us, but life in you.  2Cor. 4:12

 Our teaching must, of course be Biblically accurate, but even more so, it needs to be accompanied by an example of the dying and living of Christ within us.  We need to be always ready for that line to start dancing in the water, and then be fully prepared to fight our newly won catch safely to shores of heaven.  This, my friends is no light matter!  It is a joyous, albeit solemn calling from which there is no vacation.  We see, from the painful struggles of our own journey to the kingdom, and from the deathliness from which we, ourselves have been delivered how important is this vocation.  Would that we truly become effective fishermen and fisherwomen, not just randomly for excitement and sport, but because the lives of our neighbors hang in the balance.  Would any of you care to join me in my next fishing trip?

To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all [men], that I might by all means save some.  And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with [you].  1Cor. 9:22,23*

*This passage of the New Testament does not imply, as some seem to assert that some form of compromise of Biblical truth may be necessary in the winning of the lost for the sake of church growth.