You know that there are a lot of fish stories out there in the sea of humanity that are truly whoppers! It seems as if the longer the story grows, the bigger the fish gets from minnow to whale! Well, admittedly I am exaggerating a bit on the minnow/whale, but this two-part article is about being fishers of men and not really a fish, fish story or even how to catch a fish, per se.
We already know that to be a fisher of men, not a fisherman, involves catching physically living men and women who are dead spiritually and pointing them how to come alive in Christ; whereas a fisherman, male or female, physically catches live fish that wind up dead and on someone’s plate! A fisher of men necessitates witnessing to others; it is not the most comfortable role for most believers, yes?
Think on this; the Greek word for witnesses (Acts 1:8) is martus. Our English word “martyr” comes from this Greek word. Back in NT times, the price of witnessing usually resulted in death! The way things are going in America, if left unchecked, religious freedom will stand in jeopardy followed by the logical sequence of persecution. It is simply a matter of time without divine intervention.
So, let’s talk about telling the truth about Jesus to others in this two-part article before we dive into the next coming article on an incredible story found in Lk 5:1-11, where we will see two sets of brothers becoming fishers of men! In this article, we need to look at a couple of things about witnessing to others or going fishing, being fishers of men.
Let me start off by saying that when we think, drink, and eat and are
consumed by the desire to chase after (a justifiable idiomatic
redundancy for an intensive emphasis!) the nature of Christlikeness, witnessing
will become an inevitability in our lives. Jesus did it (the Template); the disciples did it; others did it; we should do it, yes?! Sometimes when the Holy Spirit is leading, we may
find ourselves not paying any homage to the surrounding circumstances, but that
is exclusively the Holy Spirit’s call, not ours to make; our only decision is
to be obedient to the moving of the Spirit either way: being offensive or
non-offensive, sustaining collateral damage or none.
I want to use the word fishing interchangeably with witnessing, if you will. So, let me ask you; why do we struggle with this matter of fishing or witnessing as a believer? I will cut to the chase then touch upon a couple of reasons among many. I think it is because we are more interested in pursuing after the wrong kind of fish, the selfish. It is our favorite fish of the sea with no regard to race or ethnicity as a believer. Whether we fry it, broil it, grill it, sear it, or eat it raw, sashimi-style, we love to consume selfish. Remember the old tuna commercial, “Sorry, Charlie!” Our spiritual diet needs to say that to the flesh, “You do not meet the high standards of consumption, Charlie!”
Eating selfish is spiritually unhealthy for us! It is way easier to go after that fish than man-fish, yes? And besides, man-fish isn’t on the menu. Refusing to cast our net when lead to do so really puts us in the sphere of an inconvenient conversation; we could make a case that it violates the second command not to go fishing when the Holy Spirit is leading us to do so. Boy, that second command is far wider in scope than we realize! Oh, let’s not forget the golden rule, too! That’s another inflection point when we fail to exercise love (agape); the irony of that is found in Romans 5:5.
It will help if we do not buy into the thinking that goes something like this,
“We need to leave this witnessing business to the professionals! Isn’t that what we pay them for?”
And the fruit of such reasoning sees the perceived burden of being a witness as a layperson shifting to a reliance on the professionals or the experts to do their job. That is the expectation or excuse given by the layperson; it is only one of many. Another biggie is the fear of unoffending others; it sounds so noble or cowardly? Jesus never offended anybody, did He…? If He didn't, how do we explain the crucifixion?
You know; witnessing is never presented as a spectator sport in Scripture; rather, it is a personal participative truth under the leading of the Holy Spirit whether we are an expert, star, or lay witness. This idea of leaving the witnessing exclusively up to the clergy may have its roots in the manner in which the Great Commission was/is being interpreted! It takes the one mandate, make disciples, and conveniently applies it exclusively to the eleven disciples of Jesus (cf. Mt 28:16-20, emphasis mine),
(Mat 28:16) Then the eleven disciples went away into
Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.
(Mat 28:17) When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but
some doubted.
(Mat 28:18) And Jesus came and spoke to them,
saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
(Mat 28:19) Go therefore and make disciples of all
the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit,
(Mat 28:20) teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.
Another interpretive view applies it to the local church with the going, baptizing, and teaching. Come to think of it, this is part of what good Bible-believing local churches do! I think the inclusion of these participles has supported such institutional thinking that limits witnessing to the function and responsibility of a local body [the church] with a greater emphasis on a collective action versus individual action. For example, sending money to support evangelistic efforts but never personally involved. Leave that to the professionals, yes?
There are really only two reactions about going fishing for Jesus: ignoring it altogether or witnessing to others of Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col 1:27; cf. Eph 2:12). I reside in the latter camp. I vividly recall when I was once without hope and without God in the world. After my spiritual regeneration, I am now intent on promoting the real hope to those without God in the world of the really good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The gate that leads to destruction is so broad; it is heartbreaking!
Originally, I came to Jesus out of the fear of going to hell if I should die; it was afterward that I came to love Him for what He did for me. He gave His all; we can do no less, even in this matter of going fishing that might offend the world that loves to give feedback in the form of flak!
Look at what the local Bible-believing churches do to reach out as a witness for Christ by deploying missionaries at home and abroad, short and long-term, baptizing and teaching doctrine and/or sending support to a home mission board. These wonderful things, however, doesn’t relieve the responsibility for all believers, like you and me, to be a lifestyle witness, meaning that our thinking, speaking, and living by faith must be biblical or in accordance with the Scriptures to make us credible witnesses for the glory of God.
We so desperately need credible authentic witnesses today of what it means to place our faith in Jesus Christ in a messed-up world that is under condemnation and dying and in need of redemption and at the same time is attempting to push us around! Our faith needs to be real and life-changing for the glory of God in these uncertain times that we find ourselves, a light set on a hill! It is a pitiful witness to see any saint cower and run for cover out of fear. I have not found in Scripture where Yahweh intends to vacate His throne! According to Paul,
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Php 1:21).
Paul did not allow the circumstances of life to define him. Rather, he brought Christ into every situation of his life. It was his philosophy of life – to live is Christ and perspective on death – gain! We must follow suit.
Indeed, there is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, says Solomon (Eccl 3:7b). This may suggest that even those silent service saints cannot justify remaining mum indefinitely but must break their silence at some juncture, a time to speak. If God so loved the world that He gave..., isn’t this being like God whenever we reach out in love (agape) to give the lifesaving message of the Gospel to those having no hope and without God in the world (Eph 2:12)?
We were all there once groping in the darkness, spiritually blind, and doing dark things (cf. Jn 3:19); hell was licking its chops that we might be a future resident. We were once the enemies of the very God who came to save us (cf. Rom 5:10; Col 1:21)!
Perhaps we are overzealous in equating witnessing or fishing with discipling? Indeed, witnessing is a part of making disciples, but there is more to discipling than merely fishing for Christ. Make disciples (Mt 28:19) and you shall be witnesses (Acts 1:8 is considered by conservative scholarship to be a part of the GC.) are intertwined, but there are spiritual gifts mentioned by Paul (cf. Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:4-11, 28.) given by God that reveals our individual and primary function in the body of Christ. God’s sovereignty makes that decision for us, not our desires. For example, not all believers have the gift of teaching so we cannot expect those without this spiritual gift to be involved in the teaching aspect of discipling; nonetheless, their lifestyle should illustrate to others what true faith in Christ looks like, being credible, viable witnesses for God.
Conversion (being born again, Jn 3:3) obviously precedes baptism and being taught the great doctrines of the faith. Witnessing or fishing (faith comes by hearing) follows conversion. Silent service is not Yahweh’s idea of living out the truth that God so loved the world that He gave who is now living within our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5)!
Ignoring
our responsibility to be a witness or a fisher of men is not biblically sustainable. In the
context of the Great Commission, what if there were more people in attendance
than just the eleven disciples on that undisclosed mountain in Galilee when the
Great Commission was given? Could we say it was only meant for the eleven?
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