“And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’” (Mt. 4:19)
There are numbers of scriptures that remind Christians that they are strangers in a strange land. We are reminded: that we are ambassadors from another Kingdom (Col. 1:13); to live in that alternative Kingdom reality (John 18:36); to focus on the differences between the customs and practices of the Kingdom and the world system (2 Cor. 10:3-5); destined for a separate future (Rom. 8:17-21); and numerous other admonitions of the believers called to be a separated people. However, there are a similar number of biblical admonitions to love our neighbors (Lev. 19:18, Mt. 22:39), pray for the world system’s leaders (1 Tim. 2:1-2), conduct ourselves with utmost love and concern for all mankind (Rom. 12:18), and to live and function as “salt and light” to our surrounding cultures. In other words, while Christians are to live in the reality of their faith, they are likewise to live in the reality of our common bonds with all of God’s created humanity.
Jesus, as we should all expect, gave us a perfect picture of a universal human (“the Son of Man”) living with complete identification with the surrounding culture of His environment, but doing so in a perfect representation as an ambassador of another culture, realm, and dimension. He identified with His Jewish roots; His family ties; His common human dignity with women, foreigners, and civil obligations. He was perfectly separate and perfectly identified simultaneously. He modeled what Christians should be and do, and what religious people are totally incapable of doing: fully relating to all mankind without ever losing His own identity.
In order to become “fishers of men,” believers must learn to speak and be capable of thinking “fish.” We must learn their language, or for many of us, remember the secular language we spoke when we only spoke “fish.” I have often humorously commented over the years to audiences that, “I have the tenth gift of the Holy Spirit, and that is, the ability to still think as a heathen!” I always follow that up with a request: “Please don’t pray for me to stop it; I love the earth’s people and want desperately to relate to all people who will relate to me.” Love is compelling. I speak the language of the people to whom I am an ambassador. I don’t use all their language, but I once did and fully know why they use it and what their words are trying to express. Many of their words harshly express fear, frustration, anger, injustice, and just the simple reality that life is neither fair, nor easy. I agree; so did Jesus, the Man of “grief and sorrow,” who lived in a fallen world.
If you truly love people, you will learn their language even if you do not use all of it. Right now is a golden opportunity for those of us who do love people to work very hard at translating our biblical truths into their secular language. Obviously, as a political-economist that is my calling, especially in these times where my calling and specialty is the subject of massive global concern. But beyond that, the question for all of you is, “Do you speak ‘fish’?” How are you translating your spiritual love language into the language of the indigenous people who surround you? Real love is always…the bottom line.
Principle Based Evaluation: Communication is always based on a common understanding of the words we use, especially when talking to those who hold a different worldview than ours.
For more information on the author, Dennis Peacocke, go to: http://www.gostrategic.org/
Sherri Jackson
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... Dennis, I can relate to the 10th gift of the Holy Spirit.! It makes me sad when I hear my brothers and sisters in Christ speak in Christianese to those who do not know God. It leaves them wondering so many things.. People need to know that Jesus is so very real. May we all grow up and become great speakers of His love and ways and skilled in communicating or speaking fish.. a strong article! Sherri Jackson |
Jim N.
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I agree I agree...as Dennis has said, "reformation requires the consent of the unsaved". We really need to begin to understand that to be effective we need to grow up from Sunday school and make a difference. |
Ashley McCuen
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Speaking Fish This is so good!! As someone who has grown up in the church my whole life, I am not accustomed to the language of the "fish." But as I realize that my calling is to be an ambassador and reformer of this world, I have to know the language of its people. So often, we can think as Christians that we have to use all these big-Christian-religious words, which are good, but the Lord has also called us to be fishers of men, and reformers of cultures. We cant do this unless we know the language of the fish we are trying to reach. I loved the line from this article that said, "If you truly love people, you will learn their language..." |
Erin Oostra
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Speaking fish without being a fish... Yes! This is awesome and something that I often think about. Personally, a struggle that I have had is knowing how to speak "fish" and how to relate with people that aren't Christians while at the same time not being too relatable and completely tolerant. By this I mean that it is sometimes hard to draw the line between knowing how to realate with people like Jesus did, and falling into the pattern of relating with people as if I am just like them. Jesus loved and cared for people in a way that they knew they were loved, yet it was not okay to (egi  steal in front of him. God has definately been training me in this. I love the quote: "real love is always the bottom line" because if I really loved people like Christ did, I know that I wouldn't neccesarily care if I wasn't a "complete fish" to relate with them. To love them is to do what is best for them, and that is to share Christ (by speaking fish, rather than acting like one). |
