Going Fishing
by Frank R. Fisher, Obl OSB

It was a beautiful 
spring day.
At first glance,
everything, 
 seemed to be at peace,
in Lambston;
everything that is
with the exception
of the monthly meeting
of the ministerial association.

For the past few months
the association meeting
had become a bit boisterous.
The normally 
 tranquil discussions
of prayer and scripture
had given way
to discussion
about Jesus' call
to fish for people;
a subject dear
to all the pastor's hearts.
And each 
of the three pastors present
felt their own congregation
had come up with
the best method
for doing evangelism.

Pastor Pyre E. Brimstone
led off the discussion
by showing his colleagues
his congregation's
 flashy new tracts.
"The multicolor printing
was really expensive,
and I had to really sell
my design
to the church board,"
he said proudly.
"But I think
it was worth every penny."

Pastor Brimstone,
or P.B. as his congregation
was wont to call him,
proceeded to show off
the tract's detailed graphics.
Each page
was filled with graphics
of people 
being thrown into flames
by pitchfork wielding 
devils.

He seemed especially proud
of the cover
which was emblazoned
with what he described
as his congregation's
 new motto;
"Come to our church
 or burn forever.
The choice is yours."

"That certainly is, 
ah, 
interesting,"
the other two pastors 
replied.
But even though 
they were a bit hesitant,
P.B. convinced them
to give his evangelism method 
a try.
So armed with
 cases
of the new tracts
all three pastors
returned to their congregations.
And  congregants
spread out all over the city
to hand out the tracts
to everyone 
they met.

When the three pastors
gathered
 at their next association meeting,
P.B. seemed a bit distressed.
In fact,
all three of them 
seemed upset
about the results
of P.B.'s evangelism campaign.
"I can't understand it,"
P.B. moaned.
"The tracts are stacked up 
in waste cans
all over the city.
No one's reading them.
Well,
no one,
that is,
except for the fellow
who told me 
if he was going to hell
he'd be sure 
to save me
a seat by the fire."

"Yes,"
answered Pastor Netta Prophet.
"It seems
fear
 hasn't been really useful
as an evangelism tool.
It's even driven 
some of our members
away.
They said,
they'd be back
when we stopped 
threatening people
and tried doing things 
their way."

"And what way
is that,"
P.B enquired?  
"After the drop in attendance 
last month,
I'll try 
anything!"

So Pastor Prophet
described 
the evangelism campaign
developed by her board.
It was all about
how wonderful it was
to live as a Christian,
and about 
all the wonderful things
God returned to us
when we give money
to the church.

"We firmly believe,"
Pastor Prophet concluded,
"if we give ten percent
to God,
we'll be made rich
in all kinds 
of blessings.
And we want to share
that good news
with all of Lambston.

"I'm not sure
this is gonna work either,"
moaned P.B.
as he looked out the window
at Pastor Prophet's 
new advertising truck.
But he did go on to say
 the logo,
displayed prominently 
on the truck's billboard
was . . .
striking! 
"I don't think
I've ever seen
a picture of angels
feeding slot machines,"
he muttered.

Pastor Prophet
convinced the association
to go along
with her board's
 evangelism campaign 
for the next month.
But all three of them
were discouraged
when their association 
next gathered.
"How can
 the State's Attorney say
we're running a Ponzi scheme (1),"
Pastor Prophet wailed.
"You can't believe
how much 
the bail money
bit into our budget."

"It didn't help 
my budget either,"
P.B. chimed in.
"Not to mention
 attendance
 has dropped again
and we certainly
aren't attracting
 any new members.
What's your congregation's plan
Pastor Servant?"
Our ideas certainly
don't seem to be working!"

"I'm afraid our board,
didn't go along
with either 
of your evangelism campaigns,"
Pastor Servant replied.
"They felt
we should
 simply go on doing
what we've been doing."

"Just what
have you
been doing,"
P.B. and Pastor Prophet
asked in unison.
"We see
you've had to add 
another Sunday worship time.
That make's four services
each week
doesn't it?"

"Actually,
with the new worship time,
we're gathering 
six times a week,"
Pastor Servant said.
"And I can't say
we're doing anything special.
Oh,
we certainly advertise
with signs and direct mail.
But it's the congregants
who bring
 other people in."

"You see,
a couple years ago
we decided to go 
back to the basics.
We've formed all sorts
of small groups.
These groups
all get together to pray
to study
and to serve others.
At first
it seemed
 nothing much 
was happening.
But over time
we all found
our lives
were being changed.
We found 
we were getting 
closer and closer 
to God.
The closer 
we got to God
the more we changed
and the more 
we wanted to serve
God's people."

"But how is that
 evangelism,"
P.B. and Pastor Prophet called out?
"What gets the people
in the door?"

"We think
God 
gets them in the door,"
Pastor Servant calmly replied.
"You see,
when we go out
to serve someone else,
or when someone
sees a change
in one of our members,
people ask us why.
Why are we caring 
for someone
with no attempt
to get something
in return?
Why are we different people
than we were before?"

"When we're asked 'why'
 questions,
we just say
our lives 
have been transformed
by following Jesus.
And when they ask
how they've been transformed
we invite them 
to come with us
to worship
or to a small group meeting."

" A lot of people
take us up
on our invitations.
So they come
to see
what's happening here.
And when they see
they stay,
for they've found
a life
 with the Lamb of God:
the One
for whom they've been
searching
without even knowing
whom they sought."

"Hmmm,"
P.B. and Pastor Prophet quietly said.
"Perhaps
you're on to something."

And all three pastors
returned to their congregations
to continue,
or to begin,
fishing for people;
 a way of changing lives
into something
entirely new
and spreading 
the Gospel message
of God's incredible love.
As they did
more and more people
asked questions
like "why" and how, 
"what," and "where."

And more and more 
people's lives
were transformed
by the One
who calls us
to be fishing
for people.

To God alone be glory.

Amen.

Notes:

1) A ponzi scheme is a scam, often billed as an investment, that promises high
returns.  Those who have been in the scam for awhile get money back, but it
comes from those who are just "investing" their money.  Those running the
scam skim off money for themselves.  The best ponzi artists have run their
scams for years without being discovered. But eventually they usually
collapse because their aren't enough new people kicking in money to give the
investment "returns" to the old 'investors."  It's also known as a pyramid
scheme.

(Comments to Frank at f.fisher.obl.osb@comcast.net.)
Interim Pastor of First Presbyterian Chuch of Fairbury, IL

Brother Oscar
Oblate of St. Benedict's Abbey - 
Bartonville, IL