No one likes to feel like they are being sold something. Whether it’s a car, a household appliance, or an insurance policy, we can sense when someone is trying to get us to buy into their idea or product.
For many years I have thought this way when it comes to sharing Jesus with other people.
I was so concerned about feeling pushy that the end result became really not talking about Him at all unless it was within a church environment context.
That felt safe because the chances were pretty high that most of us were there for the same reason.
Growing up I can’t count the number of times that I heard the following verse:
“And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”
– Matthew 4:19, ESV
I have to be honest when I say it’s taken me years to grow in my understanding of this. There has always been an idea that it is referring to telling others about Jesus. But what are we supposed to do with the image of fishing for a person?
At first glance, this may sound confusing. But if we take time to connect the dots of the analogy being used, it can come to life in a new and compelling way.
Here’s what I mean.
When you fish for fish, you put something on your pole and throw it out into the water. Then you wait.
Whether you are still fishing, trolling, or using a cast and retrieve method, there is still a period of waiting. If you aren’t having any success, you may try differing techniques or lures to try and entice the fish. But you still have to wait. There is nothing that you can do until the it actually responds to what you are putting in front of it.
When it comes to Jesus’ invitation to fish for people, the equivalent of waiting is listening.
Jesus modeled this perfectly for us during His time of ministry on the earth. He taught about the kingdom of heaven using parables and stories. Then He listened for the people who had ‘ears to hear.’ Those are the ones that He spent more time with and poured His life into.
This has been very transformative when evaluating my own time management.
If we follow Jesus’ model, we don’t have to feel like we are selling people something. We just have to listen.
We should always be ready to share with others about the hope that we have found in Jesus. And we should always authentically be talking about what He has saved us from and is doing in our lives.
But we are not responsible for how others respond to our witness. Whether people choose to accept it or not is not up to you and me, for it is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.
We can spend our time trying to convince people whose ears and eyes have not been spiritually awakened to believe in Him. Or we can look for those people with whom what we are sharing is taking hold in their hearts and continue to water the seed that has been planted and is growing. The choice is ours.
But if we want to grow as fishers of men, there are a few things that can be helpful for us to remember.
First, we need to believe that God is always at work.
Scripture says that He is building His church and the gates of hell will not overcome it. If we believe that, then we will be more prone to daily look for how He is doing it.
Secondly, we need to know the voice of the Holy Spirit.
He is the one who stirs our hearts and affections for Jesus. The more we respond in obedience to His leading, the quicker we will be able to identify His voice in the future.
Lastly, we need to be able to recognize when God is moving in the life of someone else.
As we begin to identify the Spirit’s voice in our own lives, we can start to hear it in other people’s words as well. The Spirit doesn’t sound like the heart and mind of natural man. He has an other worldly tone and timber that always points us to Jesus.
Again, God is always working. All we have to do is listen.
As we look at the life and ministry of Jesus, He didn’t spend time arguing with people who disagreed with Him or try to convince them of something. He proclaimed the truth about who He was and why He came. And then He listened to see who was picking up on what He was saying. He was waiting for those that the Father was drawing to Himself to rise to the surface. Those are the ones that He invested deeply in.
This is something that any and every follower of Jesus can do.
If we can learn to listen well, we will be able to see and hear when God is at work and be used by Him in powerful ways to advance the work of the kingdom.
The harvest is ripe. It’s the faithful laborers that are few.
Do we want be used by God?
Do we want see Him move powerfully?
If we grow in recognizing His voice and character, we will start to see Him everywhere we look. Then, we can simply get involved in what He is doing instead of trying to manufacture our own spiritual works.
