LINE FISHING VS. NET FISHING

Here are two key verses about evangelism you need to understand in order to apply to your church:

"Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that is thrown into the water and gathers fish of every kind (Matthew 13:47).

Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men"  (Matt. 4:19).
And ever since then, that has been the calling for disciples of Jesus: Learn how to fish for people! This is what evangelism is all about.

But what does it really mean to "fish for people"?
Most people in your church understand intuitively in reading this verse that they have some sort of an obligation to "witness" or "evangelize", and this expectation fills them with dread and guilt! They are filled with dread at the prospect of having to initiate a conversation and begin talking about something which makes them both feel uncomfortable. It makes them feel uncomfortable not because they don't believe it with all of their heart, but because they don't know how to explain it well; they are afraid of questions they can't answer; and they are afraid of accusations like 'who are you to talk to me about this.' Guilt at not doing it well, or not having done it sooner, or not living up to the life they know they should live if they are going to witness and share about life in Christ prevents many from doing well. Generally, only those with the spiritual gift of evangelism in your church excel at this one on one witnessing style.

But is that what Jesus has called us to do?
You see, the problem is that you want your church to grow through conversion growth. You want your people to witness and share, but even after you train them how, they still don't do it. If you have been leading the church for any period of time, you know that one of the quickest ways to fill people with a sense of fear and guilt is to ask them how they are doing at sharing their faith.

The solution to this dilemma?
Jesus statement to Simon Peter, "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19) has a lot to teach us about the best way to teach evangelism.

Church systems theory says that before you attempt to begin any new program in the church you need to consider its overall impact on the rest of the church environment. You also need to ask what in the current church environment will either hurt or help what you are attempting to do.

The question we need to ask from a church systems theory is what is the best and most effective means at my disposal as a pastor to:
1) Help my congregation reach their friends/family for Christ?
2) See the highest resulting church growth/assimilation numbers because of that evangelism.

When Jesus called us to evangelize, and when you call your people to evangelize, did He, and are you, calling them to "Line Fishing" or "Net Fishing"?

Jesus called Peter and the other disciples from something they knew, net fishing, to something else they could understand -- net fishing for people. The fishing metaphor remained both useful and an accurate description of how to do it.  Jesus called them to use nets.  When He told them to throw their nets over the other side, He did NOT say, "Toss out a line".  He said "throw out a net", and He is still saying that to churches today.

Does your church practice Net Fishing, or are you still trying to engage in the frustrating, and slow process of Line Fishing?  Are you pulling them up one at a time into your church, or are you bringing in whole bunches at once?

Net Fishing is a church systems concept.  You see, if I go line fishing, I do it alone.  Oh, there may be others in the boat with me, but it's one pole, one person sort of arrangement.  I hold the pole, I bait the pole, I wait for the fish, I pull the fish in. It's all about me.

Line Fishing also requires more expertise on my part.  I have to know what is the right bait for the type of fish I am trying to catch.  I have to know the right hook, the right line tension, the right depth; even the best locations in the lake to fish. Again, it is all about what I know, or what I have to learn before I can be a good fisherman.

But it is a totally different experience if I am Net Fishing.  First, I am not working alone.  I am part of a team.  I like it better already because I'm not alone. I don't have to know everything; I don't even have to learn everything.  Since we are fishing together, I can lean on the experience of others as we fish.  Also, it's not totally dependent upon my abilities.  It's not just me pulling in the fish. If we get a big haul, then I have a whole group of people to help me haul in the net.

And so it is with Net Fishing in the local church.
Every local church needs to examine its fishing system to see how they are assisting their people in the task of net fishing.

Oikos Principle
We know that the Oikos Principle applies in reaching people. It basically says that people reach those within their own circle-of-influence. In the early church, that was the extended family - the oikos - living under one roof. For the church today, the oikos - the circle of influence is more likely to be one's work associates or close neighbors, rather than the extended family.

But the oikos principle not only works on the receiving side of things; it applies to those who are reaching out as well. If we can use our personal oikos - circle of influence - to reach out, we will be much more successful in our evangelism efforts. We will have moved from Line Fishing, to Net Fishing.

So how is that done?
For most people the answer is found in their small group. However the term is defined in your church, the best and most effective means of helping your people to reach their people is in the context of small groups. If we can teach and equip our small groups how to reach out together - a much easier proposition, I assure you, than training people individually to reach out - then our churches will have much greater success.

Jesus called Simon Peter, and every disciple since then to practice Net Fishing.  Sure, there is the occasional individual cast of the line that each person is called to do.  We see several of those in the life of Christ, of course, and also in the Book of Acts, with some such as Philip.  Even Simon Peter was instructed to cast out a single line on one occasion by Jesus.  But this was not the norm, and this was not where the large harvest comes in.

In John 21, the 153 large fish were caught by net fishing.  In your church, the best fishing is done in a group.  How to teach your small group to reach out together to each individual person's oikos network is key to success.  In this way we have the Christian oikos reaching out to the non-Christian oikos.  We have Net Fishing at work in the local church.
Some of the best methods out there to teach group Net Fishing in the local church are the Sonlife seminars.  Especially helpful are the 4-hour mini-seminars, "Everyday Commission" and "Everyday Commandment".  People are challenged from the first moments of the seminar to begin considering the power of relational evangelism, but then the seminar concludes with the entire church planning a Net Fishing sort of event in order to reach out.  Some churches plan a church-wide Net Fishing experience, and in other churches they organize it by small groups or Sunday School classes.  The results are very good; Net Fishing can be done together, and it can be done more successfully.

Four Thought Questions for you:
Q1: How are you helping your people use Biblical community to reach their friends/family?
Q2: What is your church system for Net Fishing?
Q3: Is your system sustainable long term?
Q4: Is your system scalable as your church grows?

Three Net Fishing Principles:
Systematic - Sustainable - Scalable

Yours in Christ,
Dr. Bill