“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.”
Jesus, Luke 10:1
I lived for almost twenty years in South Florida. Fort Lauderdale is a town full of canals. They connect to the inter-coastal waterway on the East and the Everglades on the west. There are more boats per capita in South Florida than any other region of the country. Water is everywhere – and fishing rules.
There was a convenience store near our home in Fort Lauderdale that had a canal running behind it. The canal was shaded. There was a picnic table and a short dock.
It is warm in South Florida year around. And it was common to see people fishing the canals along the roads as you drove about the city. This canal behind the convenience store had two guys who fished there all the time. They were seniors who looked like they were having a great time. Each time I went to the store, I would see them and wave at them. But I never saw them catch any fish.
One day I decided to introduce myself. I learned they were retirees from New York who had moved to South Florida to play golf and fish. I remarked that this must be a good fishing hole, as I saw them there all the time. They looked at each other and laughed.
The older one said “We haven’t caught a fish here in months. We aren’t really trying to catch fish. We just like fishing.” The other laughed and said “I don’t even have any bait on my hook!” And then he reeled in his line to show me there was indeed no bait. As we talked, I learned they were sitting by the canal to enjoy the shade, to talk, to hang out, to smoke their cigars – but not to catch fish. One of them even said “If we caught a fish it would just interrupt our talking.”
Hmmm …
As a fisherman, I must tell you that does not work for me. But as a churchman, I must tell you that that seems to work for many people.
Here is what I am learning.
If your goal is to fish, you can do that anywhere.
If your goal is to catch fish, you have to go where they are.
If your goal is to catch fish, you have to use the bait they will bite.
If your goal is to catch fish, you have to work at it.
These two old timers had made a habit out of fishing in the middle of the day. They fished when they wanted to fish – not when the fish were biting. They fished where they wanted to fish – not where the fish were gathering. They even fished without bait. They were not really fishing. They were just play fishing.
Can I ask some questions that have been nagging at me for a long time?
We say that church on Sunday morning is all about the fish. We claim that we gather in order to preach the gospel and fish for men. But is that really the case?
The fish we are after – those who do not yet know Jesus – are not at the church gathering where we claim to be fishing.
The time we choose to fish – Sunday mornings – is the exact time when the fish we are after are least active.
The way we fish appears that we are more about talking to each other and hanging out than about actually catching fish.
Jesus sent his disciples out to go into the cities. He did not say “Let’s hang out here at the synagogue and wait for the fish to show up.” He said “Go where the people are. Go where the fish are. Go where the opportunity is.”
We fish for people one hour a week at our church gatherings. We choose a place where the fish we are after are not going to be. We choose the time when the fish we are after are not active and out. We claim to be fishing – but maybe we are just hanging out? Maybe we are just play fishing?
A true fisherman will go anywhere, at any hour of the day, using any bait that will work, in order to catch fish. He is not into fishing. He is into catching!
Professional fisherman Doug Larson says “If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles.”
Are you fishing – or just hanging out with a pole in your hand?