Gone Fishing

It has gotten to a point where you can’t even believe your own eyes anymore. I saw a photo of this giant catfish that was supposed to have been caught somewhere in Arkansas. It turns out the photo was fake. They had used Photoshop to make it look like the fish was as big as a Mini Copper or at least bigger than a man.

But here are some real catches. These are not just fish stories, they have been verified and placed in the record books. An 81-pound striped bass caught in the Long Island sound in 2011. A 427-pound Yellowfin Tuna caught near Cabo San Lucas in 2012. A 1,649-pound Blue Marlin caught near Kona, Hawaii, in 1984. A 1,785-pound Tiger Shark caught near Australia in 2004. 

The Bible has several fish stories that scientists have attempted to discredit. The story of when Jesus fed 5000 men with only 2 small fish that we can read about in Matthew 14. The story of when Jesus had finished preaching from Simon Peter’s boat and told him to cast their nets into the sea and they brought up their biggest catch ever as seen in Luke 5. The story of the time Jesus told Simon Peter to cast a hook and take the first fish he caught and take a coin out of its mouth to pay the tax found in Matthew 17. Perhaps the most often criticized story is that of Jonah and the big fish.

But none of these fish stories are the one we plan to focus on today. So far in our Driven series we have discussed our purpose and passions as a church and we have learned about the vision and mission of the church. Today we are going to learn how to fish. Gone Fishing is our focus for this message. Turn to Luke 5:4-11.

4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing! But at Your word, I’ll let down the nets.”

6 When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!” 9 For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they took, 10 and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners.

“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people!” 11 Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed Him. (HCSB)

Something I have noticed in life is that God just doesn’t ever seem to want to do things the way I think they should be done. Think about it. The same God that created the universe chose for His Son to be born in a stable to an unwed girl who was engaged to a carpenter. Nothing about it seemed right for the birth of the King over all kings.

If I HAD been in God’s place, Jesus would have been born to the wealthiest, most powerful king in the world. His parents would be from the finest families of impeccable character. His birth would have been announced on CNN, FoxNews, ABC, CBS, NBC, and even that other one that nobody watches. We would ensure that there were articles about the birth in The Baltimore Sun, The Capital, and The Washington Times and Post.

Jesus would have had the most ornate crib, designer baby outfits, and a rattle made by Tiffany’s of New York. He would have attended the finest schools, made the top awards in all areas, received a full scholarship as quarterback of the finest college, and would be the most successful businessman or politician or judge or rock star in history.

But God doesn’t do things the way I think they should be done. Here we see Jesus with no job, no income, a poor traveling preacher that doesn’t even have His own church. He’s walking around preaching anywhere he finds a crowd or the crowd finds Him. In this story we see Jesus calling His very first disciples to follow Him. And who does he pick? Fishermen. Sweaty, dirty, stinky fishermen.

I guess Jesus didn’t read the book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” or “Surround Yourself with Greatness.” He didn’t go into town and pick the most prestigious person or the biggest celebrity and hang out with them. As far as people knew, Jesus was the son of a carpenter, a blue collar worker that made money by the sweat of his brow, and here He was surrounding Himself with more blue collar workers that not only stunk of sweat, but of fish as well.

But my plans to make Jesus into a ruling king or celebrity would never have had the same impact as Jesus preaching from a boat, then calling these slimy fishermen to follow Him. He told them they would no longer be fishing for fish, but that He would make them fishers of men. The Bible says that James, John, and Simon Peter left everything and went fishing.

Many of our churches say they want to follow God’s command to fish for men, but they get caught up in the details of how to do it. They bring in specialists that teach them all about sharing Jesus with others. They bring in a strategist to make a plan for our they should engage their community. They hire staff to lead them in going out and telling others about Jesus. But they fail because they are not driven enough to drop whatever they are doing and go fishing. No longer to catch fish, but to tell others about Jesus and His salvation.

Today I want you to understand this one simple thing: fishing is not something that requires special equipment, special lures, or special fishing holes. Fishing for men requires that you have a passion to fulfill your purpose.

What purpose? We have been learning all about how as individuals and as a church we were made to Elevate Jesus. To worship Him and spend time with Him and His family. We have learned that we were made to Equip and be Equipped. To become more like Jesus. We also learned that we are made to Engage our community. To do service projects and tell others about the love of Jesus. In other words: Love God and Love Others. I told you that you would hear this over and over.

That is your purpose. That is our purpose as a church. Now how do we build a passion for fulfilling our purpose? How do we become driven?

The first rule for becoming a fisher is to Go Fishing. You can read all about fishing, you can buy all of the equipment, you can talk about going fishing, but until you actually go fishing you will never catch any fish and you will not be a fisher.

The first time I went fishing I was with my dad. I barely remember it, but we were at some lake or pond or something. I had this rod and reel and I went to cast the line into the water, but I had no idea how to work the reel. So my first cast was about 1 foot from the edge of the shoreline. I went to lift the rod and somehow I had actually hooked a bass. Once my dad came over to get it off of the line we saw that the hook at gone into the fish’s eye. It wasn’t a pretty catch, but it was a catch nonetheless.

Statistics show that those who become followers of Jesus are most likely to tell others about Jesus during their first year as a Christian. Why is that? Because they are excited about what Jesus has done for them. They are passionate about what Jesus is doing for them. They are driven to let their friends and family know about what Jesus can do for them as well.

After that first year many followers of Jesus suddenly lose their passion because they have been around others who also have no passion. Rather than continue in the excitement of their new life with Christ, they melt into the church pot of mediocrity.

Not only are new believers more likely to tell others about Jesus, but they are generally more successful in bringing others to Jesus. Why? Because those that were recently not followers of Jesus know others that are also not following Jesus and they tell those others about Jesus. Most new believers have not been trained how to tell others about Jesus, they just do it because they are excited about the change in their own lives because of Jesus.

This is one of the reasons why church plants typically reach more people for Jesus than established churches. Our church has existed for less than a year. We have had 12 people accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We only run about 25 people on a good day, but we have reached more people this past year than churches 10 times our size. Sadly many churches have not baptized anyone in the past year. They are not baptizing because they are not fishing.

But there are still some who need to know before they go. I have had many people tell me that they cannot tell others about Jesus because they do not know what to say. My answer has always been: “Are you a Christian? How did you become a Christian? Tell them that.” Your story should include His story. Telling others how you came to know about Jesus is the most important part of fishing for men.

Still, I understand that you might have difficulty under pressure trying to figure out what to say. Any good fisherman will tell you that they only got to where they are by practicing. They spent many hours casting a line. They spent many years studying the lakes and ponds and bays around them. So to help you prepare, and to become a good fisher, here are the three things that your story should include. You should write these out and practice telling these to others until you become the best fisher you can.

Life Before Jesus – what was your life like before you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Before you made Jesus your boss. Perhaps you struggled with hating people. You were always angry and read for a fight. Perhaps you were a drug addict or an alcoholic. Or perhaps you were a good person who rarely did anything wrong, but you knew that there must be something better. Simply tell them what your life was like before you knew Jesus.

Encounter with Jesus – how did you encounter Jesus? Perhaps someone first showed you the love of Jesus because of how they accepted and loved you. Maybe they then told you about Jesus. How he loved you so much that He died for your sin penalty. Jesus died so you could be forgiven of your sins and live for all of eternity with Him in heaven. Everyone has a different story of their encounter with Jesus, tell them your’s.

Life With Jesus – what has been different since you became a follower of Jesus? Maybe the only change you have seen is that you have a desire to learn more about God. Most non-believers do not experience a desire or passion to learn about God. Maybe you have seen a drastic change in your attitude or your actions. Whatever that is, talk about that.

These three things are what we call a testimony. They are your story. Not everyone you tell your story to will believe it. Many will think you are just telling a fish story. But you have to keep casting your story out there for others to hear. Sometimes you will cast into the perfect spot and someone will want to know more, like a fish nibbling at your bait. Sometimes you will find someone who is ready to be hooked and reeled in. When you go fishing, you have to cast a lot of times to get some fish.

Your story does not have to be some long list of the mistakes you made or the great things that God is doing now. Your testimony should take no more than 3 minutes to tell. When you get used to telling it, you will notice that it becomes easy to find a way to bring up your story during any conversation.

What about it? Are we driven enough to be fishers of men? Does our purposes and passions as a church drive us to drop whatever we are doing so we can follow Jesus? Imagine what would happen to our neighborhood, to our city, if just this small group of people caught the vision to be 100% completely sold out to do as Jesus commands. This is my challenge to you today. Become fishers of men.