“You can’t just fish on the surface. Use your sinkers!”
While I was in Cambodia on a missions trip the missionary took some of us out for a morning of salt water fishing. We weren’t going after the mammoths of the deep but rather the numerous smaller varieties that live in the coral reefs around the outlying islands. Because of predators and swift currents these fish stay very close to the reef. So he had us put on some rather large sinkers that would take our bait (squid heads) through the strong current right to their front door. It was just like jigging back home.
It got me thinking about Kingdom fishing. In our culture today, surface fishing just doesn’t yield the results that it did in the past. Bridge building events, evangelistic outreaches, special weekend services are still important but not as the primary tool of the Great Commission. The problem with putting all our effort and relying only on events is that it’s surface fishing. It’s hard for these efforts to get below the surface of a person’s life. However, these efforts are very effective when used in conjunction with relational evangelism.
You see fishing is 3D. Depth is critical. Relationships are the most effective means of reaching our culture and our community. The witness of genuine followers of Christ, in a real relationship with God, living out their lives (victories and failures) can be a powerful influence for the cause of Christ.
It’s critical that we establish Relational Evangelism not only as a core value of our church but also as the personal life-style of every believer. The realization that each of us is a strategic connection point to Jesus and that each believer has been uniquely qualified, gifted and positioned to be a Kingdom influence in the lives of some who need Christ. It’s also understanding that the Great Commission is the individual responsibility of all believers. Relational Evangelism is not a program, it is a life-style that recognizes that not only must we share the Good News, we must genuinely care about those who are outside the family of God. Lost people matter to God. The question is – Do they matter to us?
Remember, Fishing is 3D – Depth Matters,
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