Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:16-18, ESV)
I was reading this passage earlier today, and I was simply struck by how profound it actually is—levels of profundity I’m sure I’ve only begun to touch.
Simon and Andrew were fishermen… and Jesus’ statement to them, “I will make you fishers of men”, is actually a play on words! I know that observation is elementary, but I think this wordplay is deeper than we might initially think. Jesus is fundamentally calling them to a new type of work, a different direction in their work; he’s not necessarily calling them to a new profession, but giving them a new overarching purpose in their profession. Not just catching fish, not just making money, but giving them a mission in their fish-catching and a greater purpose behind only making money. He is calling them to a greater mission in their job—whether it’s a job they might already have or not yet realize. Whatever the job title might be, the deeper job motivation is the same for all those who follow Jesus.
Indeed, Jesus still called them ‘fishers’–he just added a new level of purpose to it. Overall, Jesus’ call of discipleship reinterpreted their current vocation. And when he calls us to be ‘fishers of men’, he’s not calling us to stop being a doctor or a fisher; he’s simply critiquing our underlying role as a doctor or fisher. You’re not a doctor who is a Christian. You’re a Christian who performs medicine.
Essentially, Jesus is saying that our work isn’t just catching fish, cleaning teeth, writing reports, administrating policies, consulting businesses, serving groceries, and etc; it is about demonstrating and declaring the gospel in and through our work. In fact, like an exquisitely cut diamond, all of our different work platforms give different angles of the gospel’s beautiful outworkings and applications in society and for each person. As a whole, the diamond is fundamentally the same substance throughout, but in different lights, it shows a multifaceted host of kaleidoscopic glory. Similarly, when the gospel is the foundational, base-elemental substance behind our different spheres of work, the world is lit up with a showcase of the many ways the good news speaks into every area of work.
God’s glory isn’t limited to just the church; in fact, it’s manifest more outside the walls of the church. Be encouraged—your work isn’t less or more spiritual or important than the preacher or worship dude/dudette. Jesus calls everyone to the same purpose in every work we do—to point to the amazing God of the good news and every good work. When Jesus called the Simon and Andrew to be fishers of men instead of fishermen, that was not necessarily a call to abandon our ‘secular’ job for a ‘sacred’ job, even though the disciples directly followed Him in ‘full-time’ ministry. It was a call to a different type of work altogether: one with a different purpose, a different underlying motivation, and a different trajectory in how and why we work. Otherwise, Jesus’ summons would only mean that really following him meant quitting our ‘secular’ jobs and follow him to the ‘sacred’ sphere, which is certainly not the case. I think Paul particularly exhorted the church about this very thing: “For there is the same Spirit, but different gifts” (1 Co. 4:12).
As such, it would not be good for the overall advancement of the gospel for the pastor (who is gifted in preaching and teaching) to spend his life as a salesman, and for the salesman (who is gifted in business and marketing) to be in a role of teaching. That would not be a good stewarding of the gifts and callings God has placed on our lives. Rather, the individual gifted in teaching should teach, and the individual gifted in sales should sell. Each can effectively use their talents by embodying the gospel in what they do best. Don’t be deceived by legalistic church culture: there is no division of sacred (church) and secular (non-church). It’s all God’s. And God’s plan is to redeem it all. So let’s be faithful agents of that mission we have claimed to live out in Christ by leveraging our gifts accordingly.
“Do what you do best for the glory of God, and do it in a place that is most strategic for the mission of God” –JD Greear
Certainly, fishers of men can still fish for fish too. And so should everyone whom God has called to work from inside the fishing boat. But whether you leave the boat or not, Jesus has still called you a fisher of men.
