Of Fish and Men
By Yang K. Chen, M.D.
October 1996

Many Christians wonder if they have the gift of evangelism, but that is the wrong question to ask.

One day as Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." And they immediately left their nets, and followed Him­Matthew 4:18-20.

Today there are many voices in our culture vying for our allegiance and affection. But there is only one person in all of history who deserves our total commitment and undivided loyalty. His name is Jesus!

What Jesus had In mind

Some Christians have a salad bar mentality when it comes to serving God, wherein the meaning and implications of being a follower of Christ have been reduced to a plethora of optional programs from which one is free to pick and choose his own version of what it means to follow Christ. For others, there is no overarching mission beyond that of having their own spiritual needs met. Their attitude seems to be, "If I join this ministry, what’s in it for me? What are the "benies?" The church is viewed as a fortress against the world rather than a force for change as lives are transformed by the power of the gospel.

But when Jesus said, "Follow me," what did He have in mind for His followers to do? "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Is it possible for us to follow Him without becoming actively involved in fishing for the souls of men and women? "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). That was Christ’s mission in coming to earth, and everything He did and said was ordered by this objective. As followers of Jesus Christ, we have been called to do the same. The wonderful promise is that, if we do follow Christ, He will make us to become fishers of men.

Don’t miss the boat

When I was a medical student in Manila, I used to unwind after final exams by going out to one of the outlying fishing villages, where I would spend an entire weekend with these simple folk, sleeping on the bamboo floor in a nipa hut. At around ten or eleven at night, we would launch out to sea in our boats and fish all night. Then at dawn all the boats would sail back to shore, where I loved to build a small fire on the beach and take some of the day’s catch and throw it on the fire for breakfast.

The first time I went out to one of these villages, I knew nothing about fishing. Being a city boy, the only fish I had ever seen was wrapped in old pages of the Manila Times at the open fish market. Interestingly, during the entire time I was with them on these fishing expeditions, nobody ever asked me, "Hey, is fishing one of your gifts?" You see, in a village where fishing is the only means of livelihood, anyone who got hung up on that issue would starve to death! Instead, they simply assumed that as I followed them around and observed them at their trade, I would learn from them how to fish, and I did.

Many Christians wonder if they have the gift of evangelism, but that is the wrong question to ask. The real issue is not, "Do I have the gift?," but whether or not I am willing to be obedient.

Leaving our (safety) nets behind

Jesus said, "Come, follow me, and I will make you..." You see, we must first come to Jesus if we are to become fishers of men. And in coming to Him, there must be a willingness to walk away from other things. Sometimes we try to hang on to things that keep us from following Him­our standard of living, our dreams and professional goals. Perhaps the most difficult things to let go of may be our pride, self-sufficiency and independence. We think we can have our cake and eat it too, spiritually speaking. Instead of coming along with Jesus, we try to get Jesus to come along with us, to help us with our own agenda. But accepting Jesus’ invitation to come to Him means that we are willing to forsake all of these other things.

Becoming is His process

Jesus said, "Come­and I will make you..." We all know that becoming is a process. None of us can claim to be a finished product. So if evangelism makes us feel inadequate­well, praise the Lord! It’s a good place to start. Because if we come to Him with open palms and a teachable spirit, He will take us just as we are and bring us through whatever it takes to make us into fishers of men.

Jesus said, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Our responsibility is to follow; His responsibility is to make us into fishers of men. I don’t know about you, but that really takes the pressure off of me when it comes to evangelism.

Doing what He tells you

Soon after Jesus was crucified, it seemed that the fledgling Christian movement was doomed to fail before it had a chance to get off the ground. In a moment of despondency, Simon Peter said, "I’m going fishing." And the other disciples said, "We’ll go with you." But that night they caught nothing. When the day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach, and said to them, "Children, you do not have any fish do you?" And they answered Him, "No." But they did not know who they were talking to. Jesus therefore said to them, "Cast your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you will find a catch." And when they did what Jesus told them to do, they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish in the nets (John 21).

Why did the disciples catch nothing after fishing all night? Was it because there were no fish in the sea of Galilee? Or was it because they were fishing on the wrong side of the boat? Can you imagine what was going through the minds of these professionals? They had fished all night and caught nothing; they were tired, discouraged, and ready to give up. Then along comes Jesus who said to them, "How about casting the net on the right-hand side of the boat?" Right! Who in the world was that?

But there was an important spiritual lesson that Jesus wanted them to learn through this experience: If His disciples were going to become fishers of men, it would be because they were willing to fish where Jesus told them to fish, and not because they had a Ph.D. in piscatology. Peter decided on his own what he wanted to do, and when and where he wanted to do it; the other disciples followed the wrong person. "Follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Breaking up is the thing to do

As a pre-med student at the University of the Philippines, I had a thriving ministry of evangelism and discipleship. We saw a handful of timid Christian students on a campus dominated by Marxist radicals transformed into a movement involving hundreds of disciples who came to Christ through our ministry. Over several years, I saw this process of spiritual multiplication produce more than eleven generations of Christians on a single campus. Many of these disciples continue to share Christ in mission fields around the world. Frankly, I was having a more effective ministry than many who were involved in "full-time Christian work."

In that exciting ministry environment, it was easy to develop a certain measure of self-confidence. But when I entered medical school, I hit a brick wall. Despite my best efforts, I wasn’t seeing any fruit, and I became despondent. I had "fished all night and caught nothing," and I was tired and discouraged. I was tempted to give up.

At times, I wondered if I had misread the Lord’s leading, or if I had the gift of evangelism, or if medical people were just different­meaning that they weren’t as interested in spiritual things. Then I wondered if the Lord had put me on a shelf and had stopped blessing me and my ministry. In other words, I struggled with the sort of self-doubts that the Enemy likes to bombard us with when we are in the midst of spiritual warfare.

But it was a desert experience that I needed to go through in order that any residue of self-sufficiency and self-confidence might die down. Brokenness is a necessary part of every Christian’s preparation for service. Often the Lord will use our area of greatest competence to expose our spiritual bankruptcy. In acknowledging my own impotence, I discovered what it meant to be shipwrecked on God’s omnipotence. I learned not only that "apart from Him I can do nothing," but also that "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

A matter of willingness

Often I hear Christians say, "I’ve tried to witness to my colleagues and my patients, but I don’t see any visible results. I don’t think I’m cut out for this." Others say, "I’m just a young Christian," or "I’m just a housewife," or "I’m too shy and introverted," or "I don’t know enough about the Bible," or "I just don’t have the time in a busy practice." In a moment of discouragement, Simon Peter said, "I am going fishing." Like him, we may say to God, "Just let me do what I do best: I’ll sing in the choir or teach Sunday school, I’ll be the best doctor (or the best parent) I know how to be. Why not let others who have the gift of evangelism do that work?"

But Jesus is saying, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." That’s His promise. Are you willing to go where He tells you to go, and do what He tells you to do? Will you fish where He tells you to fish and leave the results to Him? If so, then you are well on your way to becoming what He wanted you to become when He called you to follow Him. §