You Can’t Catch What’s Not There
Notes on Fishing for Men
“It doesn’t matter how good a fisherman you are — if there are no fish where you’re fishing, you ain’t gonna catch anything.”
Serious fishermen invest real time and money locating fish before they ever wet a line. They study topographic maps, research vegetation patterns, run sonar, talk to locals. The best equipment, the most tantalizing bait, the most refined technique — none of it matters if there are no fish in the area. The most fundamental rule of fishing is deceptively simple: go where the fish are.
And so it is with Kingdom fishing.
The method of most churches in North America can be summarized in three words: Come To Us. Excellent programs. Quality music. Free coffee. Friendly people. And it works — for people who are already looking and willing to walk through the door. But that population is shrinking, and the younger the generation, the less likely they are to come to us at all.
Jesus had a different approach. When Simon and his partners had fished all night and caught nothing, Jesus didn’t suggest a better technique or a more attractive presentation. He said put out into the deep water and let down your nets. Go where the fish are. Fish differently than you have been fishing.
“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.” — Luke 5:4-6 (NIV)
We can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. The message hasn’t lost its power. The problem is that we’re often fishing in our own strength, in our own comfortable waters, waiting for the fish to find us.
What if instead of expecting them to come to us, we took the Church — which is us, not a building — to them?
What if we took what we have and what they need, and went to them?
- This is The Way
Here’s the link to the entire series:
https://www.thisistheway.live/t/fishing-proverbs