Can You Be A Fisherperson If You Are Not Willing To Fish Series

Resurrection Encounters Part VI: Can You Be A Fisher If You Aren’t Willing to Fish? Matthew 28:16-20 CBC May 20, 2007

Okay today let me ask the question? Are there any fishermen and women out there? If you love to fish raise your hand? If you like to fish raise your hand. If you are remotely interested in fishing raise your hand. Good there are a lot of people interested in fishing around here. That’s great because today I want to talk about being fishers. I want to take Fishing and apply it to the church this morning. And to begin I want to share with you an article written by story that was written about church growth in America back in the late 1970’s by John Drescher and let’s see how much we have grown not just in our fishing but in our churches as well.

Dreshcer starts off by talking about this group that was known as fishers. And they talked about how those streams and lakes were filled with fish. And how hungry those fish were. They would gather every week and talk about their call to fish and how many fish there were that needed to be caught and ways that they could go out and catch those fish. They talked about the importance of fishing and talked about how they could encourage others to fish. They wanted everyone to be a fisher and they wanted everyone to fish.

There was only one problem though. The one thing they did not do was fish.

They also shared how hard it was to fish. They discussed their sacrifices and how they had to put up with so many difficulties. They talked about how they were made fun of because they were fishers. They talked about the money that they gave so that others could be fishers; they talked about how little time they had to fish because they had to work. They talked about how fishing should be the most important thing in their lives. Yet there was one problem. The one thing they did not do was…fish

And then one day, a stranger walked into the group of fishers and suggested that those who sat around and talked about fishing but never caught any fish were not really fishers—no matter how much they claimed to be.” And so today let me ask the question “Is a person a fisher if he or she isn’t fishing.”

What does that have to with being a Christian? It has everything to do with it. Go back to that story I just shared with you. How many Christians say that they are involved (quotation marks) in a church yet it is only if it works best for them and if they are getting what they want? How many times do Christians get together and talk about the importance of being fishers of men and women and then leave the meeting and forget to take their fishing poles and nets. We can talk about wanting to be fishers of men and women for Christ all day long. We can talk about how we want everyone to be fishers and to fish, yet if you and I aren’t willing to fish then are we truly fishers ourselves.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to see a group of people not just talk about being fishers but actually put it into practice. I saw yesterday people being willing to get out of the boat and to drop their nets in the deep end relying on God’s promise that if we will just listen to His commands as to where to drop the nets His name will be glorified. Yesterday our nets were dropped in this community and you know what. God was glorified. Because yesterday God saw in action not a group of people talking about being fishers but seeing a group of people sharing the Gospel.

So today, I want us to look at the Great Commission statement that Jesus left in another Resurrection Encounter and I want us to honestly evaluate ourselves and ask the question: Can We Truly Be Fishers for Christ if we are not willing to Fish:

I don’t know if you know it or not but I am passionate about this church being united together as a T.E.A.M. I am a true believer that Together Everyone will Accomplish Ministry. Now I am not a fisherman of fish but here is what I am thinking. If we are in need of catching a lot of fish, then we are going to have better luck having a lot of people fishing on that lake instead of just me myself and I. I will never catch as many fish by myself as we will working together as a T.E.A.M. It’s the same way in our Christian lives. I can’t go out and reach this community by myself. Now that does not mean that I should not do my part. But what it means is that I need help. Just as I can’t expect you to go out and to do it on your own, because you need help. And that is where we work together as a team. There are too many people who want to be Lone Ranger Christians who think they don’t have to be involved in church but friends working on your own all by ourselves in our own little world will not work. Instead of becoming a successful fisher you will be a frustrated fisher.