Fish Stories

It started innocently enough: Christian motorists adorned their bumpers and trunks with a millennia-old symbol—a fish. It was a quiet, earnest profession of faith.

But evolutionists couldn’t pass up the opportunity to parody this spawning of Christian fish. On the back of their cars appeared a fish with legs and Darwin written in the center. Christian commuters refused to “turn the other gill” at the indignity. They fired back with a new incarnation—a shark-toothed Christian fish devouring the four-footed Darwin creature.

A peaceful symbol had turned predatory.

Although these decals provided some amusing moments in my daily commute, I saw in them a cautionary tale—a warning on how not to engage and evangelize an unbelieving world. Rather than converting non-Christian commuters, the decals only manage to separate those who know Jesus from those who desperately need Him.

The Fish Wars reflect a common misstep among Christians that begins with a misunderstanding of the Great Commission.

Living water

Jesus’ final instructions to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) has motivated Christian evangelism for nearly 2,000 years. Somewhere along the way, however, we have reduced the Great Commission to spouting Christian catchphrases at nonbelievers.

Jesus called His followers not only to preach, but also to make disciples. Discipleship is an inseparable part of evangelism—it begins before and continues long after conversion.

So how do we evangelize and disciple people in a culture that denies God or sees little need for Him? As I searched the Scriptures, I found insight in the example of Jesus. Throughout His ministry, He entered the world of the people He spoke with; He not only taught in the synagogues but also ate with fishermen, tax collectors and lepers in their homes.

Jesus understood and acknowledged their needs, concerns and even the minutia of their daily lives. His parables were replete with the details of Jewish rural life—fish, sheep, wheat, wineskins, moneylenders, wedding banquets. He related to people on their level, using words and examples they could understand.

When Jesus spoke with the woman at the well, rather than expounding on the Law and the Prophets, He began talking about a simple need: water. They had both come to the well to quench their thirst, and Jesus used their shared experience to build an instant connection.

As mundane as this encounter may seem, consider the broader context: The God of the universe, who created the rains and rivers and oceans, became a man and experienced thirst and was now asking the woman for a drink from a well. He entered her world and empathized with her need for water so He could point her to the “living water” that brings eternal life.

Use the right bait

As Jesus demonstrated again and again, evangelism, and thus discipleship, begins with empathy. Our ability to reach a godless culture will be matched only by our ability to empathize with the people who live in it. When we answer their questions with understanding, we can then begin making disciples.

The apostle Paul understood this principle. He summarized his strategy for the Great Commission this way: “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).

He put this strategy into action when he debated the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens (Acts 17). Instead of lambasting their idol worship, he identified with their religious fervor. He even used one of their objects of worship—the “Unknown God”—to point them to the Lord of heaven and earth. Because he could see the world through the eyes of the Greeks, several Athenians became Christians that day.

Christians today have the same opportunity to touch people’s deepest longings with the Gospel. Our lost world needs to hear of the love and hope behind our platitudes and clever car decals. It needs a generation of Christians who understand rather than merely preach, who empathize rather than quickly condemn. It needs believers who defang their symbols of faith and present fish that give life.