Goals: To Learn

As mentioned before, we have several goals for this blog:

• To Obey
• To Pray
• To Learn 
• To Teach
• To Model
• To Report 
• To Encourage

Jesus told people, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."   I remember reading this verse not long after I became a Christian and not understanding the metaphor.   How do you fish for men?   I remember asking a mentor who explained it to me, and I've learned over the years how appropriate the the metaphor is.   

I've recently tried taking up fly fishing. Fishing on the Bow River flowing in & about Calgary is supposed to be some of the best in the world.  But all the technique of casting will not do one any good if you don't know something about the fish and something about flies.  One has to know something about the time of year and types of flies in season, as well as something about where fish hang out and what spooks them.   

The fishing analogy could not be more appropriate.   

Fishing for people is a lot like fishing for trout.  You have to know something about people (& what the Bible says is true of them) and the basics of the Gospel, what they need to hear and what concerns (& spooks) them.   

Learning to fish for people is a life-long journey.  It is not something that is mastered in this lifetime. Rather, it's something you devote yourself to for the long haul.  

And just like fishing in a stream, you have to actually fish for people in real life.  That's how we learn, plain and simple.   

In fact, I often tell people that you don't even know what you don't know until you get into conversations with people.  You will find out what questions to ask, what verses you need to memorize, what types of objections are common, and what concerns people have that the Gospel of Christ addresses.   

And just like you learn to fish by actually fishing, so to you learn to evangelize by evangelizing.   

As I reflect on conversations with people about the Gospel over the years, I've always reflected on what I would have / should have said differently.  And that's just part of the journey.   I've learned the in's and out's of flies, different baits to use, how to approach fish by trial and error.   

And I'm glad to be a life-long student.  And the thrill of the catch keeps me going.   

I once heard someone define evangelism as "taking the initiative in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel and leaving the results to God."  It is our privilege to join God in his mission since he is the Great Missionary.   

Or to put it another way, He is the Master Fisherman, and we get to join him on the fishing expedition.