Fishers of Men

Mat 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

I have been reflecting on this verse recently. We sing it frequently in Honeybees, and my son loves the actions. We hold our rod and cast it out, reeling in those little fishies as quick as we can. I think most of us have similar images as we read this verse. It is how many of us evangelize. We bait our hooks, cast it out and wait patiently, assuring ourselves that this is how Jesus planned evangelism to look. He did, after all, compare it to fishing.

But then I watched this video we have from Follow the Rabbi.. In one of the faith lessons, a man is depicting fishing just as fishermen in those days would have done it. He casts his net (quite an interesting sight in itself), and pulls in nothing. Also a common occurrence, both in fishing and evangelism.

What strikes me is that there is no bait. You cast out the net; you pull it in. Cast it out; pull it in. There is no idleness. You do not sit back and wait to see what will take the bait. Net fishing is hard work. Once you throw out the net, you start pulling it in for another attempt. Finally, making a catch has more to do with knowing where and when to throw your net than what kinds of things the fish eat. Fish are in the shallows in the cool parts of the day and in the deep through the heat of the day. You row your boat out to where there are likely to be fish, and cast your nets.

What does that have to do with how the church evangelizes? And how is that really any different from how we currently “fish?” I think fishing in the sense of today’s rod-and-reel fishing effectively describes “seeker sensitive” evangelism. You throw out your bait: children’s programs, accomplished author’s and speakers as pastors, family life centers and the like.

I believe, however, God brings those to us who have hearts to hear His message. We need only to continue to cast out the nets. It is not so much about us and our skill at baiting the hook as it is about doing what we are called to do on a continual basis so when the fish are sent our way, we are not sunbathing in the boat with a pole resting on the edge.

You can read more information about fishing in Jesus’ day here.

You can find Dana at her blog Principled Discovery.