Something's Fishy

I'll be the first to admit, I don't fish. Besides a lack of interest, there are two main deterrents for me to really "get into" fishing. First is the absolute hassle of having to learn the habits and preferences of the different types of fish in order to lure them onto my hook. The second is all the expensive equipment required to be successful at the endeavor. This week I have been contemplating the phrase "Fishers of Men" and I'm seeing some new parallels.

Matthew 4:19 says,

And He (Jesus) said unto them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

I've established that I'm not what you'd call a fishing enthusiast. So naturally, the call to be a fisher of men, doesn't really hit me in the feels. While I can see that Jesus' call was tailor-made for a much more appropriate audience- fishermen, I still believe the call rings true for me these two millennia later. My reception to that call is akin to how I would react to an invitation to a late-night fishing trip: inadequate in knowledge, investment and interest.

I've said my two main detractors are having to study the fish and having to invest in getting the equipment needed. I completely glazed-over the fact that I'm just not interested in fishing. If I'm honest with myself, the same holds true with "fishing men" for Jesus. When I think of it as a chore and a cost, I'd just rather stay home.

This week, I thought about the kind of fishing the disciples were doing all those years ago on the Sea of Galilee. These weren't fly fishermen, tying just the right fly and attempting the perfect cast in thigh-high waders. They weren't pursuing a trophy fish to hang on their wall. These men were casting a net into the deep and seeing what they pulled up.

I don't want to diminish the level of know-how they employed in their craft, but net fishing is a far-cry from pole fishing. Rather than solitary, it is most often communal. Rather than elite and expensive, it is done by poor people around the world. Maybe the reason I've never really come around to the whole "fishers of men" idea is that I've looked at it all wrong.

Is it possible that fishing for men looks like being open and friendly to the outside world? Casting a wide net and seeing what you pull in? Instead of pouring over the books and preparing the perfect lure, maybe it's choosing to live the Christian life out in the open and seeing who is attracted to it.

We can't control who our lives attract, who will see Jesus in our words and actions, or who's a catch-and-release. All we can do is live with open arms, embracing all who swim past us and gathering them with a net of love. When I think of evangelism like pole fishing, it seems disingenuous; tricking and hooking an unsuspecting prey. When I think of it like net fishing, my job is simply to gather nets full of people and let God do the sorting. That doesn't seem fishy at all.

Trying not to Compare

If you follow Seat At The Table on Facebook or read our most recent newsletter, you'll know that we've had an eventful month as a family. We were invited to partner with Belize Camping Experience to provide Team Development training; living with them on their base just outside Belize City. With our kids still not doing in-person school, we felt it was a rare opportunity we shouldn't pass-up. So for the month of May, we packed our bags every weekend and spent the work week at BCE. (Side note: I was able to visit my parents in Florida for 2 weeks, while Eddie and the kids remained at BCE. )

Being temporarily embedded in a ministry team was a valuable and sometimes difficult experience. As we worked on supporting their relationships, roles and communication, we got to see the ins and outs of a successful Belizean ministry. Seeing it up close gave me lots of fodder for self-reflection.

We've been here in Belize for a year and a half, most of which has been during a global pandemic. Our start has been slow and we're still seeking the direction we want to grow in. Next to BCE's flourishing, established ministry, our fledgling ministry feels like a joke. Compared to a ministry base and large fundraising budget, my hands feel empty. They have a team of dedicated full-time missionaries and interns, we're a team of 2 (and a half). I know that we have different callings, I know that we are just getting started, but the feelings of insignificance are real.

1 Peter 4:10-11

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

Another comparison I'm wrestling with is that I'm not a "churchy" person, but the work we're involved with currently is church ministry. The young people are great kids who need great leaders investing in them, but my heart has always been for the rough kids- those who, without intervention, probably won't make it. Those kids and teens are everywhere and I'm praying for an opening for me to get involved.

At the end of this month, it'll be 2 years since I left my career. I'm ready for something new. I'm ready for a project I can sink my teeth into. Rather than feeling defeated, I want my passion to be stoked again.

While I wait for doors to open and direction to become more clear, I will serve faithfully, being true to who I was created to be, using the gifts I have. I will try not to wish I were more like someone else. I will try not to compare. God knows who I am, where I am and where I'm going. His plans are good and He's in charge.

Privileged to Blend-in

In our work here lately, we've been newly reminded that we are foreigners. Our way of dressing is foreign, our speech is foreign and out point of view is foreign. While we may not hold our dress, speech or viewpoint to be any better or worse than others', it does play a role in how people perceive us and how receptive they are to what we have to say.

The complexity of serving in a cross-cultural context is nothing new; two thousand years ago the apostles of the early church encountered a similar culture gap to what we are experiencing today.

1 Corinthians 9:19-21

19 Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ.20 When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law.21 When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ.

We are humbled by being misunderstood. It's frustrating to be potentially rejected for the cultural background we come from. With cross-cultural work, it's to be expected, but it isn't fun or comfortable. Despite this, we see it as a privilege to tackle these tough issues with our Belizean friends. It's a privilege to work through misunderstandings and come out the other side with greater understanding and respect for one another.

I think about chameleons and how adaptable they are to their environment. Their outer appearance changes, but they remain the same underneath. God isn't asking us to change who we are, rather to adjust the things that are only skin-deep.

As Paul wrote above, "I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ." If that means adapting my dress, speech or behavior, sign me up. He said, "When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law." If that means choosing to subject myself to occasional legalism, so be it. Christ humbled himself to the utmost. Any sacrifice he asks of me is a privilege.