Being a Rescue-Mission Angler

The past few posts have focused on defining discipleship. This is mostly because 1) it's important and 2) there seems to be a lot of not seeing eye to eye in churches when it comes to discipleship. I'm not attempting to give the final answer to the question, but rather to help focus some lines of thought about discipleship for you, church leader, who might just be talking about discipleship to a congregation of people who might not all be on the same plane. Maybe even you, church leader, are a bit confused about discipleship, or in your own mind the idea is not all that clear.

I've been suggesting we start with Jesus. Duh. Even saying "let's start with Jesus" does not clear the air immediately. There are probably many places one can turn as a starting point within the corpus of Jesus' teaching and example in the gospels. As a starting point, I'm suggesting we select one of the first things Jesus says when he invites soon-to-be-disciples onto his wagon: the call of disciples in Mark 1:17.

This week, the part of that passage we focus on is that discipleship is an invitation to be fishers for people as part of God's rescue mission.

Think of fishing. Don't think of fishing as you might do it today, but as you might have done it, say, as an ancient Jewish blue-collar fisherman on the shores of Galilee. As a comparison, think of the tv show Deadliest Catch in our present time.

The job was tough. Unspectacular. The fishermen are looked upon as unsophisticated. Certainly not among the elite. The job required long hours. Maybe decent pay if the catch was good. There were risks. And still there was a hefty amount of your earnings that went to Rome.

Not the best job, really.

The task of fishing itself was the work of a group of men in a boat, hauling not just one fish at a time, but dozens or more fish at a time into the boat. It's like they were reaching down out of the boat and scooping fish up, pulling them out, from one environment to another, from the sea to the boat.

Transfer this image to the life Jesus is inviting these men into. The job is unspectacular. Even unsophisticated from the perspective of the cultural elite. It might be looked down upon. And instead of drawing out fish, it's people. It's the work of reaching out to gather people, to scoop them up into the boat, from one environment to another.

From death to life.

The invitation to be fishers for people is not a bad analogy. It reminds us that being a disciple is not for the faint of heart. It reminds us that it is unspectacular, in a world where making your name known is what many people life for. Discipleship is not for self-growth, for being a better spiritual person. It is ultimately for gathering others into the Jesus boat.

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Why are we gathering others? Why is fishing for people the image Jesus uses? Weeelll...the fishing idea is one that God used in the Old Testament. Makes sense.

In Jeremiah 16:16, the Lord says:

I am now sending many fishermen, says the Lord, and they shall catch them... 

God sending fisherman is connected to God's rescue mission of God's people, the Israelites. They had been in exile, apart from their homeland, apart from God, with no hope or future. Through Jeremiah, God speaks a word of hope and restoration, in addition to a word of judgment for Israel's failures. God says to the Israelites that he will give them a hope and a future as a people, that he will restore them and renew their lives.

They just need to be plucked out of the old, dead existence of exile and transferred to a new environment.

From death to life. From hopelessness to hope. From having hearts of stone to new hearts that follow God.

When Jesus invites these blue-collar fishermen to be fishers for people, he's got the this very idea in mind. In addition to rescuing Israelites, the net is cast wider -- for all humanity. All humanity, as Paul says in Romans 3:10-18, has been estranged from God and exists at odds with one another. It's a bad place to be. It's a sea of death.

Discipleship is being on the rescue mission of God.

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The mission of God is to catch people, to scoop them out -- dozens at a time! -- out from the sea of death into the boat of life. The waters of this world are toxic. Only death will result from remaining in them. Thank God Jesus has entered into our toxic waters to draw us out into life. But once we're out, we're called back in, to bring more out of the waters into life. This is what discipleship is for.

When we're called into discipleship, we're called to follow Jesus who brings God's rescue mission into reality. We're called to participation. We're called to get on the boat and take up the net with others. Discipleship is never a solo endeavor. And it's all about Jesus and his kingdom. Jesus is the one leading the mission. And it's the mission of restoring people to the life in his kingdom.

So, to you, church leader...

How are you communicating discipleship to your congregation?
Is participation in the rescue mission of God the focus of your talk of discipleship? Is it the focus of how you're shaping those in your congregation as disciples?
Where in your immediate community is the mission of discipleship most needed? 
How can you call people into discipleship -- fishing to draw people out of the toxic waters of death right in your community?