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May 7, 2006
FISHERS OF MEN
Matthew 4:19
One day, Jesus was
walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and He saw two brothers, Simon,
and Andrew, casting a fishing net into the lake. He called out to them, “Come,
follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once, they left their nets
and followed Him.
It’s a compelling
invitation, isn’t it? What would you rather do: catch fish, or catch men for
God? Certainly, we need people to catch fish for us, and provide food for our
tables; and fishing is a fun sport; but the idea of fishing for men, capturing
people to become followers of Christ, that’s a lot more exciting. It has
eternal consequences! And to see someone come to Christ that you have prayed
for, and talked to, and longed to see in the kingdom—there is just nothing like
it.
So this morning, I want
to look with you at what it means to be fishers of men. To help me with this,
I’ve asked Bob Boerger, one of the most avid fishermen I know, to share with you
some principles that make for successful fishing, and then I’ll try to show the
parallel with fishing for men and women.
Disclaimer: I know that
the way we fish in Colorado is not at all the way they fished in Palestine in
Jesus’ day, but I think you’ll see that some of these parallels work anyway.
1. Anticipate
success Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 13:48
No fisherman goes out expecting to get skunked. We are all optimists.
I don’t know where the optimism of fishermen comes from, but when it
comes to fishing for men, we have every reason to believe we will be
successful. Matthew 28:18-20, “Then Jesus came to them and said, "All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Therefore go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age." Jesus gives us a command that seems impossible: make disciples,
followers of His, in every ethnic group in the world. But He brackets this
command with two pieces of information about Himself that not only make it
possible, but certain: 1) He has all authority in the universe, and 2) He will
be with us at all times, especially when we are engaged in this task of making
disciples. With that kind of support, we cannot fail! Our success does not
depend so much on us, as on Him, who has all authority, and is going to see that
this happens.
We have an illustration of that in Acts 13. Paul and Barnabas were on
their first missionary trip, and were speaking to a mixed group of Jews and
Gentiles. They pointed out that the Old Testament predicted that the Messiah
would be a light for the Gentiles (Is 49:6), and (Acts 13:48), “When the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all
who were appointed for eternal life believed.” None of the fish got away.
God has appointed many for eternal life, and all of them will believe and be
saved. Their salvation is not just up to us; God is the author of
faith. Faith is the gift of God, so that no one can boast. And He will see to
it that we are successful in catching people for Him, if we will just try. The
only way to fail is not to try.
2. If you are
not catching fish, change something. 1 Corinthians 9:22
Be flexible, remember the goal, and don’t just stick with the dry fly. If
they don’t bite, pull it in and throw it out in another place, or change the
bait, etc.
Paul said in 1 Cor. 9:22, “I have become all things to all men so that
by all possible means I might save some.” In other words, he was determined to
adapt himself to the people he was trying to reach. He says in that passage
that with people who were concerned to follow the law of God, he followed what
the law commanded; with Gentiles who didn’t care about the law, he was much more
free. He did what he could to adapt himself to them, rather than making them
adapt to him.
For example, I recently heard of a man in our church who wanted to
make an impact on a friend who was into Tai Kwon Do. So this Christian made
room in his schedule for Tai Kwon Do lessons three times a week, plus went over
to the friend’s house once a week to watch movies and hang out. He made major
changes in his life in order to “save one”.
Another way to apply this principle of “if you’re not catching fish,
change something”, is in the course of a conversation. I picture this a lot like
fishing in the sense that if you don’t catch anything in one spot, you pull in
your line and cast it out in a different place. So in a conversation, you can
make a comment that invites a response, but does not require it. For example,
you can say, “I hear that the Da Vinci Code movie is really going to be a
blockbuster. Of course, it’s fiction, and some of the facts in it like Jesus
being married to Mary are false, but still, it’s a great story.” Just let that
fly lie there on the water and see if anybody bites. If not, you can reel it
in, and throw out something else. You can say, “You know, we had a man in our
church die very suddenly a week or so ago, and it just reminded me how uncertain
life is and how important it is to be ready to go.” If you’re brave, you can
follow that up with something like, “What do you think it takes to be ready to
die?” Again, if they don’t bite, if they just brush it off, or change the
subject, that’s fine, reel it in and try again later. The idea is to keep
trying something until they bite.
3. When they
bite, play them as long as they are on the line 1 Peter 3:15
This is the fun part of fishing. enjoy it
If someone “bites”—if they make a comment of any sort in response to
your bait, ask follow up questions. What else do they think? What do they
think about this other point you have to make? Once they’ve shown some interest
in the subject, you can pursue it as long as they are willing to talk about it.
Here, too, the fishing analogy is instructive, because if you try to
force the issue, and compel them to believe, i.e., if you yank really hard on
the line, you are likely to tear the hook out of the fish’s mouth. You have to
play the fish gently, keeping some tension in the line, but not enough to tear
the fish’s mouth or break the line. If he runs under the boat, let him go; if
it’s a particularly large fish, and your tackle is light (i.e. if you do not
have all the answers), you have to set the drag on your reel so that he can pull
some line out at times. There is this give and take in the conversation, but
keep the conversation going as long as you can!
1 Peter 3:15, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who
asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with
gentleness and respect.” Don’t try to beat them into submission or agreement.
And don’t let it turn into a “fight”, or an argument. Keep the tempers cool,
and the volume down, so that you can keep them on the line as long as possible.
They’ll be much more willing to stay in the conversation with you if you treat
them with respect.
4. Fishing can
seem more appealing somewhere else, like New Zealand or Yellowstone, but if
there is water, there are fish near you. 2 Timothy 4:2
Sometimes it may seem like the real work of evangelism is done
someplace else. Because this church has such a strong missions emphasis, we may
get the impression that we have to go on a special missions trip to Guatemala or
India or China to find people who need the Lord. But we live in what the
military calls a “target rich environment”. There are roughly 60,000 people in
Loveland, and about 40% of them go to church. That means that 60% of the people
in our town do not normally attend church. 60% x 60,000 = 36,000 people who
need to hear the good news that God loves them and wants to spend eternity with
them. There are a lot of Christians in Loveland – more than in many parts of
the country. We see Christian bumper stickers and fish on cars all the time;
some Christmas decorations give us the clue that the residents there really know
what the reason for the season is; many of our neighbors attend church. But
well over half of the people around us do not know God’s love in any personal
way.
Therefore, we should be ready to speak up about Christ at any time.
Neighborhoods are a good place to go “fishing”. Especially now that the weather
is getting warmer, people are out working in their yards, planting gardens,
etc. It’s a great opportunity to walk across the street, to be friendly, to
learn a bit more about this person God loves so much. Block parties are a good
way to build friendships in our neighborhoods, and if you will take the
initiative to make it happen, your neighbors will rise up and call you blessed.
They want to be more neighborly; they just need someone to lead the way.
There are “fish” at work, too. Some of them are maybe a little
prickly with sharp fins, but others seem to like you. Do you think that’s a
coincidence, or because you are such a great person? Maybe it’s because God is
preparing the way, and drawing that person to Himself, and He wants to use you
in the process.
How many of you are in some kind of community club or service
organization? What great “fishing ponds” those are! Everybody shares something
in common, which is what binds you together, and there is a level of trust
between the members just because of your common association in that
organization. These “fish” are already comfortable around you, so you don’t
have to be worried about scaring them off right away.
And of course, most of us have family members who are still outside
God’s love, and we want so much for them to know the peace and joy that we have
in Christ. I know from experience that family can be one of the hardest places
to “fish”, but at least they are there, already in a relationship with us; we
don’t have to go through all the time and trouble to get to know them well.
God has put us in all these places because there are “fish”
there—people He loves and wants to bless for eternity. Our job is simply to be
ready, wherever we are, for when God opens the door. 2 Tim. 4:2, Preach the
Word; be prepared in season and out of season. OK, there aren’t fishing
“seasons”; fish are in season all the time. This means whether it seems like a
convenient time or not, let’s be ready. I recall that in my younger years as a
Christian, I used to think that if I didn’t have at least an hour to share the
gospel with someone, I wouldn’t even start, because that’s how long it would
take me to explain it all. Since I hardly ever had an hour, I never got around
to saying anything. But now I realize that I don’t have to give them the whole
“bait bucket” so to speak; I just have to throw out one worm. God is in charge,
and if they bite, I’ll play it for as long as they want to talk. When they are
done, I’m done—for that day. The important thing is that we are ready all the
time, because there are fish all around us.
5. 80% of the
fish are caught by 20% of the fishermen.
It’s skill, not luck. Fishing competitions are proof that it is a sport of
skill. No one is born a successful fisherman.
It’s true that God gives some people the gift of evangelism, so they
are extremely effective at winning people to Christ, at “catching fish” in our
analogy. But it is possible to improve our skill in this area, even if we are
not specifically gifted at it. Jim Eng insists that he does not have the
spiritual gift of evangelism but he has worked hard to get good at it, and now
it comes very naturally to him. So even if you are not a “born evangelist”, you
can become effective at tying flies, and casting, and catching people for
Christ.
a. Equipment and
training improve the odds.
The most important piece of equipment we have is the Bible. The more
we know the Bible, the more God has available to bring to our mind when we are
in a conversation. I know He could probably make Scripture verses just appear
in our minds even if we have never learned them, just as He could make the exact
right lure appear in the fisherman’s tackle box, but He very seldom does that!
Just as the fisherman has to buy and know how to use the right tackle, so we
need to equip ourselves with a knowledge of God’s Word.
This church is big on the Bible. There are tons of opportunities to
learn Scripture here, for every age group, in lots of different settings. If you
feel like your Bible knowledge is inadequate for fishing, get in a Sunday School
class, or a Home Fellowship Group, or a Men’s or Women’s group, or Women in the
Word, or something! I mean, being in this church is like being at a WalMart for
Bible knowledge. Pick up something!
Another helpful piece of equipment can be a gospel tract. There are
some on the Information Center counter all the time. I like the one called
“Bridge to Life” for explaining the basics of the gospel to people. Millions of
people have been led to faith through Campus Crusade’s Four Spiritual Laws
booklet. The nice thing about these is that you can tuck them in your wallet or
purse, and have them handy at any time. It’s another way to “be prepared in
season and out of season.”
At the men’s retreat last fall, we got some training in fly fishing
from the Glover brothers. You see men standing in rivers all the time casting
their flies, but it’s not as easy as it looks. So it makes sense to get some
training. The same is true when it comes to fishing for men. We offer a course
here periodically called “Becoming a Contagious Christian” which I think is one
of the best fishing courses around. The next time you see that offered, take
the class; it will help you feel prepared. The elders just read a book together
called Finding Common Ground, which helped give us a different
perspective on this fishing-for- men business (but it used the agricultural
images of sowing and reaping). There are any number of good books on the
subject, but I think you’ll get more out of them if you will read them with
someone else, or with your small group, so that you can talk through how you
might actually put those principles into practice.
b. Practice,
practice, practice Philemon 1:6
Speaking of practice, that’s the next point. Bob assures me that
champion fishermen do not get that good by simply reading and attending
classes. They fish! Because people are far more complex than fish, fishing for
men is a complex business. So it makes sense to think that if we are going to
get good at it, we are going to have to practice. Philemon 1:6, “I pray that
you may be active in sharing your faith...” We get better at almost anything
with practice. Don’t be discouraged if your friend doesn’t respond the first
time you talk to them. Keep the friendship going; keep the lines of
communication open; try again another time, with a different lure or bait. But
be active at it. Keep practicing.
c. Learn from
your experience
Actually, practicing only helps improve our skill if we are paying
attention to what works and what doesn’t. Whether you catch fish or not, ask
“why?” Whether your friend responds well or not, ask yourself why. What can I
learn from that experience? What did I do well? What could I have done better?
What was a disaster, and why? Maybe an apology to our friend is in order if we
made a major blunder; that’s ok. We make no pretense to be perfect; we are
works in progress, and above all we want to be authentic with our friends. But
make every experience a learning experience.
Dawson Trotman, founder of the Navigators, said that he determined
never to be stumped by the same question twice. If he didn’t know the answer
the first time he heard the question, he would go study up on that so that when
it came up again, he was ready. He learned from his experience.
6. You have to
have your line in the water John 9:25; Philemon 1:6
Don’t spend all your time tying flies and waxing the boat. Fish don’t
just jump into the boat.
Christians often feel like they are never quite ready to talk to a
friend about the Lord. They say, “Oh, I don’t know the Bible well enough.” Or,
“I’ve never taken a course in apologetics.” So they spend their whole lives
preparing to “fish” and never get around to actually fishing. They read
another book; they take another course on evangelism; they watch a video; they
listen to a sermon like this one today, and they still say, “I’m not quite ready
yet.”
One of my favorite men in the Bible is the man who was born blind who
Jesus healed. The religious authorities were upset that Jesus healed him on the
Sabbath, so they questioned him closely about it. Then they went away, and came
back later with more questions. Finally, in exasperation, the poor man cried, I
don’t know whether this man Jesus is a sinner or not, as you say. All I know is
that once I was blind and now I can see. (John 9:25) This man knew almost no
theology; he barely knew who Jesus was. But he could say clearly and
convincingly what had happened to him. He simply told his story. And all of us
can do that.
And we need to do that if we are to catch any fish. Philemon 1:6, “I
pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full
understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” I’ve always been
intrigued at the logic of this verse, and how it runs counter to the way we
usually think of things. We think we have to have a full understanding of our
faith before we share our faith. This says that we will get a more
complete understanding of our faith as we share it with others. It’s a
lot like my experience in geometry in 10th grade. I thought I
understood the proof when I was sitting at my desk, but when I walked back to
my seat after explaining it to the class on the chalk board, then I really
knew it. In fact, I would say that we really do not understand anything until
we can explain it to someone else. So we get a tremendous benefit from this
ourselves, but the point is that we need to have our hook in the water. We need
to be active in sharing our faith if we are ever to be fishers of men.
Bob says the fish don’t just jump into the boat, but somehow that’s
the technique we have used most often. We go out in the boat with a bull horn
and shout out over the lake, “The boat is open! The boat is open!” The
astonishing thing is that the occasional flying fish does land in the boat! But
this is no way to fish. We have to put our line in the water. We have to be
active in building relationships, and cultivating trust, and (to use another
fishing image) chumming by throwing out some bait to attract the fish. If we
want to catch something, we have to put our line in the water. We have to get
involved in this process.
If we
follow Jesus closely, He will make us fishers of men. Bob Boerger, and many
others of you, think fishing for fish is exciting, but I’m here to tell you that
fishing for men is the most exciting thing in the world. And we can
anticipate success in our efforts to “catch fish for God”, because:
·
There are fish all around us.
·
Fishing is primarily a matter of skill, not luck, and
·
We can improve our skills as we get training, and practice, and
evaluate each experience.
·
Jesus Christ, who commands us to do this, has absolute authority
in the universe, and He is ultimately responsible for saving people. And He has
promised to be with us as we engage in this specific task, all the time. We
cannot fail. Let’s go fishing!
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