If we build it, they won't come. Let's go fishing!

If we build it, they won’t come. Let’s go Fishing!

When I look back to the day that God called me, I still remember the words he told me. “Get off the bandwagon, come follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men.” This comes straight from Matthew 4:19. God spoke to my heart using terms that resonated with me at that time. I was at OSU just following the crowd, riding the bandwagon. And I was on the lake about every weekend fishing when I didn’t have projects due. God knew that those two things would catch my attention and help me make the decision to accept Christ.

Then, a couple of months later God called me into ministry. He again spoke to my heart through something else I enjoyed…Art. I went to a Chi Alpha leadership conference where one of the speakers showed a slide of a cardboard cut out sign. The sign had the words painted on it, “This way to Kids and Youth." It looked like a kindergartener made it. The worst part was that this sign belonged to a megachurch in California. And they were using the sign to advertise kids and youth ministry. It was there that God told me, “This is what I want you to do.” At that point, I didn’t understand. In hindsight, it meant using my design background for ministry. I didn’t know at the time how it would all fit together.

Now, 16 years later, I see how God has moved in my life and put what he told me together.

Too many times, we believe, that all we need to do is build a building (or renovate one), and people will come on their own. But in today's secular world that is not the case. If we build it, they will not come. If we look back in Peter's day, it was the same way. Nothing is truly that easy, right?

Matthew 16:18 “And I (Jesus) tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

When Jesus was telling Peter, he is the rock that the church was going to be built on. Jesus wasn’t talking about a building. Jesus was talking about the big “C” church. The church which extends beyond the four walls of any building. But instead, consists of the hearts of individuals who seek and follow after Jesus.

When Peter was chosen a few years earlier, Jesus spoke directly to his heart using a term that he would understand…Fishing.

Matthew 4:19 “And He said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

This is a clue about how we are to build God’s church today. We must be fishermen.

Think about fishing today. Most people think about putting a worm on a hook that's connected to a bobber and is cast into a lake for us to wait and see if something happens. Fishing this way takes hours of watching the bobber before anything happens. This is like saying "if you cast it, fish will bite." Which, true fishermen know, is not the case.

But for those of us who love fishing, we know there is more to it than that. There is a goal we have, with a strategy in place, and methods to help lure fish in.

For example: at the time I’m writing this, it’s early March, in Oklahoma, and the weather has been on the warm side. This means that the fish are not swimming as deep as they normally would be. It’s spawning time so that means that the fish will be in the northwest parts of lakes or where rivers feed into the lake. On top of that, fish eat at dusk or dawn.

Knowing this helps me develop a strategy and tells me which methods to use to meet my goal. To have the best chance of catching fish: I need to fish early at dawn or late dusk; using a lure that will pull at a depth where the fish are; and located somewhere on the northwest part in the lake. This is a small number of methods needed to be successful with my strategy to meet my goal while fishing.

Now, what is my goal? Is it to have fun fishing, is it to catch enough fish to feed my family, or is it part of my job?

When Peter and his brother Andrew went fishing, it was their job to catch as many fish as possible. They would sell the fish to the market, which provided a living for them and their families.

As disciples, their job was to catch as many people as possible to build God’s church. Their goal was to lead people to Christ. Their strategy was to fish for people with love. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit were the methods they used.

Today, as we build God’s church, we must continue being fishers of men. We must have a God-given goal to reach the lost, using the strategy of love, and the methods of the Holy Spirit. To fish the way God intends, we have to get out of the church building to be where the people are in the community.

This is where a solid marketing plan or a fishing plan comes into place. Part of this plan is branding. Branding is everything you do, the way you do it, your location, and your behavior. It’s how other people in your community perceive you and your church. Just like a fisherman who is trying to make a living, every method you use should have intention. For us, that intention is to show the love of Jesus to as many people as we can in our communities through physical interactions and friendships and digitally through social media.

Now, with the dawn of social media, our communities have grown to be both physical and digital. As fishers of men, we need to be where the fish are, or we will never get a bite. Instead, we will get hung up on something at the bottom of the lake. That is why it is so important for us, as fishermen and as the local church, to have both physical and digital interactions within the communities we serve. It must be part of our strategy, using physical and social media methods, to accomplish the goal to see the Big “C” church built.

16 years ago, God called me to be a fisher of men. That calling hasn’t changed. What does that mean for me today? It is about using my background coupled with my passion for God’s word to teach and equip Christians with both the methods and strategy to reach their communities. Both physical and digital.

So will you become a fisher of men to win your community and the rest of the world for Jesus Christ? Will you set your goal to win the lost, strategically through love, using both physical and digital methods? And, will you partner with us as we go fishing for people in Spain?