The really cool fish symbol, I think, is the one with the little cross for an eye. Except it reminds me of the X they use for eyes in cartoons when something is dead. I suppose that's weird.
I guess the use of a crude outline of a fish to symbolize Christianity came from Jesus' invitation to a couple of his future disciples that he would make them 'fishers of men.'
So I've always wondered, what did He say to the Dr. Luke? I will make you a healer of men? Cool. But then it gets a little dicey. What do you say to Matthew, the tax collector?
More to the point, what would he say to me? How can my day to day stuff be adapted as a follower of Christ?
My good friend Phil's natural talent showed up in two areas of his life. He was great at convincing people on the benefits of buying a car from him. He is just as good at convincing people of the benefits of living life according to God's plan.
But of the disciples, I like Andrew's style best. He simply introduces people to Jesus. In John's account, he tells Peter, "We found the Messiah," then takes his brother to meet Him. Later, with a starving crowd at hand he tells Jesus, "Here is a boy with bread and fish."
Andrew sees people with something to offer. He takes them to Jesus, not because Jesus is lacking, but because that's where they, and their gifts, will be best used and most appreciated. How simple is that?
2 comments:
Thanks Mark, this is interesting. I've never really thought about it in this way.
I guess we all have gifts and natural bents and when it comes to sharing Life with people, we naturally should do the same.
For the record? I prefer the fish sitting in the lounge chair enjoying a cold drink, myself.
Several days ago a friend of mine aked if I'd like to go to Target with her to pass out words of encouragement to people. I said yes, then immediatly regretted my decision. I ended up backing out of it, because while my friend has the gift of Evangelism and this was energizing to her, it felt like dead weight to me. While I am all for showing God's love to people, I think we all have various ways of doing this and we can be inspired by the Holy Spirit to do it in the way that comes natural to us. Having said this, however, I do want to clarify that I am all for stepping out of my comfort zone, and I wouldn't be surprised if God brought an even bigger opportunity for me to work out my puny evangelistic muscle.
Post a Comment