Fishing

Matthew 4:18-20 tells the story of the calling of Peter and Andrew, Jesus' first disciples. Lately, as I struggle to discern what God's plan is for my life professionally, this story has been a great comfort to me. I love the way the Message puts it.

"Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, "Come with me. I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass." They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed."

The NIV says that Jesus wanted to make "fishers of men" out of the disciples. I grew up hearing that this is what God wanted from us too, and for the most part I accepted the idea that Christians were called to be expert anglers.  Yet, somehow, the idea of catching people always seemed a little crude to me. Baiting the hook, casting the line, reeling them in—it all sounded way to much like the "people cages" my friend Gwen jokingly used to suggest we use to get more people to come to Wednesday night Bible study.

Over the past few weeks God has challenged me to revisit this misconception I had about discipleship. At Sunday morning worship and evening Bible study, in my daily quiet time, and even in the random book I was reading at the time, this idea of vocational "people fishing" kept coming up. As this passage was explained to me, what I began to realize was that, at its heart, my misunderstanding of Jesus' invitation to become a fisher of  people revolved around the TYPE of fishing going on in this passage. You see the disciples weren't using poles and bait, they were using nets. That changes things.

Peter and Andrew weren't sitting safely on the shore, occasionally tossing a lure into the water, they were out in the boat hulling up great catches of numerous kinds of fish. This image is a great metaphor for the Christian life. If we truly desire to be the kind of fishermen Jesus called Peter and Andrew to be, it's not enough to simply sit on the shore, tucked away in our safe "Christian" bubbles, casting a line every once and awhile; we have to be out in boat. Like a net, our faith has to stretch across every part of our lives.

If we really want to become the type of fisherman Jesus was talking about in Matthew 4, we can't pick and choose with who and when we share our faith; it should be visible to each and every person we come in contact with. If it's not, what's the point? If our lives are no different from the people around us, why bother professing a faith in Jesus Christ?  If they way we conduct our businesses, form our friendships, and spend our free time doesn’t reflect the love of Christ, can we really call ourselves Christians? If we don't want to walk the walk, why waste energy merely talking the talk? Seriously, who are we fooling? Not the people around us, and definitely not God. 

As I considered these things in light of my search for a major and correlating future job, it became rather clear that it doesn't really matter what my job is, but how I do it. Shane Claiborne in his book The Irresistible Revolution puts it this way:

"I was convinced that what we do is not nearly as important as who we are. The question is not whether you will be a doctor or a lawyer but what kind of doctor or lawyer you will be. ...I remember Mother Teresa saying 'Do not worry about your career. Concern yourself with your vocation, and that is to be lovers of Jesus.'" 

I think both Claiborne and Mother Teresa were right.  As Christians our main job is to show Christ’s love in the world, to be his hands and feet. People should be able to see Jesus in the way we live at school, at work, and on the weekends, not just when we’re at church or on a mission trip. Being a Christian isn’t some sort of part time job, it’s a lifetime commitment.  I still don’t know what God is calling me to do, but I know for certain what he’s calling me to be: a faithful lover committed to sharing that love in the broken world He so deeply loves.

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."