Gone Fishin'

Mark 1:17 – “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

You don’t see signs like Gone Fishin’ in the big stores in big towns, but there was a time when you might see something like that in a small store in a small, out-of-the-way town. It was something of a cliché in some movies or TV shows about small towns. The idea was there are more important things to do than stand behind a counter waiting for the next customer to come in and hopefully buy something. I have had neighbors down through the years who were avid fishermen. They would wait until Saturday and hook up the boat to the pickup and head out to their favorite lake to match wits with a wily fish. Meanwhile, the grass mowing or yard work or other chores were put on hold until they returned. Underneath it all, though, it doesn’t have the same flavor as that Gon Fishin’ sign in a store window. It has more of a frantic, hurry-up feeling that says the fishing has to be squeezed into the schedule somehow.

In the bible passage above, Jesus is telling his new recruits to stop what they are doing and follow him. These were professional fishermen. This is how they made their living, paid the bills, and supported their families. We know that Peter was married and in all likelihood so were the others. Jesus called people from all walks of life. We know there was a tax collector and a doctor. Most likely, there were shop owners and farmers and sheep ranchers. He called people from all walks of life and they became his apostles and disciples. Have you ever stopped to think about that and what those people really did? Imagine for a moment that someone you had never met told you to resign from your job today, not with two weeks’ notice, but just walk away. Here you are, with your spouse, children, mortgage, car payments and debts, and some guy you don’t know is telling you to walk away and follow him. He assures you that it will all be taken care of somehow and you just have to have faith in him. What are you going to do? We know what the young man did in Matthew 19:21-22 when Jesus invited him to be a follower. He turned around and left.

Jesus doesn’t ask everyone to make such a large sacrifice as giving up everything to follow him. He does ask that we follow him to the best of our ability and beyond. We don’t have to go out and cast big nets and drag large groups of people to church or preach to people on street corners. He does expect us to fish in our own way. If you know anything about fishing, you know you have to use some kind of bait and a hook in order to catch a fish. Whether the bait is a worm, a shrimp, or an artificial lure, it needs to be something that catches the fish’s attention as it goes swimming by. Our bait may be just the way we live or the things we say that catch the attention of someone else. Our hook isn’t something barbed and painful, it is just the way we may respond to that person who asks about what he or she has seen. It is something that makes them want to know more, hear more. The one thing we can’t do that a real fisherman does to a real fish is to reel them in against their will. Can you just see the reaction of someone who has expressed an interest in what you have or are doing and then you grab them by the arm and drag them to your church? They would toss out the hook and swim away as fast as they could, never to be seen again. No, it is our duty as Christians to bring them to where they can hear more about what Jesus has to say, to hear what God has in his plans for them. We need to infuse them with at least reluctant curiosity and allow them to reel themselves in so they can hear for themselves. We have to face the reality that they may stay or they may swim away. It is their choice and chasing after them with “your message” may just hurry the withdrawal. Remember, it is your initial actions or words that brought them close by. It is Jesus’ message that will make them want to stay.

There are two kinds of people who become Christ’s fishermen. One is the type like I just described above, the ones who attract by their lifestyle, the things they do and the words they say. The other kind is the pushy obnoxious kind. They are always pushing their thoughts and ideas about Jesus at people. It gets to the point that people avoid them because any encounter becomes a preaching session. It would be like going to the lake and instead of using bait on your hook, you used a cowbell. As you can imagine, there would not be a fish anywhere around.

Jesus invited all of us to be fishers of men. He expects us to help him by bringing people in close enough so he can touch their hearts and souls, and in so doing, lead them to an eternal life with God. Are you living a life that helps his efforts, that attracts others to you so you can lead them close enough to hear? Are you a cowbell on the end of the line? Is your life such that no one would believe you are a Christian or, if they do, does the way you live, act and speak drive them away from the mere thought of wanting to know more about him?

Are you one of Jesus’ fishermen? He is always looking for those who are willing to be one.