“If you want to reach people in your community with the gospel, start fishing.” VANCE PITMAN
Faithfully following Jesus - what does that look like?
For the past month, this is the ONE question I’ve been seeking to answer. I’m guessing for many, if not ALL of you reading this right now, your desire is to faithfully follow Jesus. And like you, faithfully following Jesus in the 21st century, well, it’s challenging. Between distractions, temptations, and a culture that would prefer you not follow Jesus, faithfully following Jesus is not getting any easier.
RELATIONSHIPS.
If we are to faithfully follow Jesus, it WILL NOT happen apart from three KEY RELATIONSHIPS that were central to Jesus’s life and ministry…
1. Jesus’s RELATIONSHIP with His Father.
2. Jesus’s RELATIONSHIP with His disciples.
3. Jesus’s RELATIONSHIP with the world.
Today, we finish this series by looking at Jesus’s relationship with the world… that is to say, how he interacted with those that were far from His Heavenly Father.
I’m not a fisherman… and to be honest with you, the whole concept seems a bit boring and even a bit cruel. That being said, I understand enough about fishing to know that if I’m going to catch any fish, I need to pick a spot, get some sort of lure, and then cast my line into the water and see what happens.
If that doesn’t produce any fish, well, I need to rethink my location, lure, and cast my line once again to see if the results are any different.
Again, I’m not a fisherman, but I know that if I just sit near some water debating with others what the best lures to use are never casting a line into the water, well, if I do that, I’ll never catch any fish… EVER.
Jesus was not a fisherman; He was a carpenter. But upon inviting His disciples to begin the journey of a lifetime in following Him, He made clear that He would not make them into carpenters, but into fishermen.
And He said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19
When you watch Jesus’s ministry unfold over three years, the relationship He had with the world can be compared to that of fishing.
Jesus was consistently casting a metaphorical line in order to capture people with His heart.
The woman at the well… Jesus went fishing.
The rich young ruler… Jesus went fishing.
Zacchaeus… Jesus went fishing.
The woman caught in adultery… Jesus went fishing.
The demoniac… Jesus went fishing.
Because Jesus cared deeply about people who were far from God, He went fishing in order to capture their hearts with His Father’s love for them.
Whether you’ve been following Jesus for five minutes or fifty years, the one commonality between all of us is this…
WE’VE ALL BEEN CALLED TO GO FISHING.
If we’d faithfully follow Jesus, then we must allow the Carpenter to make us into people who fish for people. Let’s not overthink or overanalyze it. Let’s throw a line and see what God might do.
What does that look like?
Invite someone into your home for dinner.
Invite someone to get some coffee… or Chipotle.
Invite someone to check out your church.
Invite someone to watch Game 4 with you as the Celtics win their 18th NBA Title.
Just start fishing and see what the Carpenter might do… I think we’ll all be amazed to see that the Carpenter was a pretty good Fisherman as well.
