Let’s Go Fishing…for Men

A few days ago, I temporarily returned to the state where I have lived most of my life. Minnesota state law says the fishing opener must occur two weekends before Memorial Day. That often coincides with Mother’s Day, which includes this year. That hasn’t mattered to me since I’ve never been a fan of fishing. Besides that, my mother passed away five years ago.

As an evangelist, I think of evangelism when people discuss fishing. Jesus told his disciples to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). Sadly, many Christians talk more about evangelism than actually doing it. It reminds me of “The Parable of the Fishless Fishermen” written by John M. Drescher that someone emailed me years ago:

There was a group called The Fisherman's Fellowship. They were surrounded by streams and lakes full of hungry fish. They met regularly to discuss the call to fish, the abundance of fish, and the thrill of catching fish. They got excited about fishing! Someone suggested that they needed a philosophy of fishing, so they carefully defined and redefined fishing, and the purpose of fishing. They developed fishing strategies and tactics. Then they realized that they had been going at it backwards. They had approached fishing from the point of view of the fisherman, and not from the point of view of the fish. How do fish view the world? How does the fisherman appear to the fish? What do fish eat and when? These are all good things to know. So they began research studies and attended conferences on fishing. Some traveled to far away places to study different kinds of fish with different habits. Some got PhD's in fishology. But no one had yet gone fishing. 

So a committee was formed to send out fisherman. As prospective fishing places outnumbered fisherman, the committee needed to determine priorities. A priority list of fishing places was posted on bulletin boards in all of the fellowship halls. But still, no one was fishing. A survey was launched to find out why. Most did not answer the survey, but from those that did, it was discovered that some felt called to study fish, a few, to furnish fishing equipment, and several to go around encouraging the fishermen. What with meetings, conferences, and seminars, they just simply didn't have time to fish. 

Now Jake was a newcomer to the Fisherman's Fellowship. After one stirring meeting of the Fellowship, he went fishing and caught a large fish. At the next meeting, he told his story, and he was honored for his catch. He was told that he had a special "gift of fishing." He was then scheduled to speak at all the Fellowship chapters and tell how he did it. 

With all the speaking invitations and his election to the board of directors of the Fisherman's Fellowship, Jake no longer has time to go fishing. But soon he began to feel restless and empty. He longed to feel the tug on the line once again. So he cut the speaking, he resigned from the board, and he said to a friend, “Let's go fishing.” They did, just the two of them, and they caught fish. The members of the Fisherman's Fellowship were many, the fish were plentiful, but the fishers were few! 

(End of story)

Let that parable remind you to be a doer of God’s word and not a hearer only (James 1:22). Sinners won’t get saved if believers merely talk about the Great Commission. Let’s fulfill it while there’s still time.

“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” - Luke 14:23