18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19″Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20At once they left their nets and followed him.

21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

“I will make you fishers of men.” When I was in Sunday School as a child, we used to sing a song based on these words of Jesus, complete with actions:

I will make you fishers of men,
Fishers of men, fishers of men,
I will make you fishers of men,
If you follow Me.

If you follow Me,
If you follow Me,
I will make you fishers of men,
If you follow Me.

You can imagine the kind of actions: lean back and then ‘cast’, before ‘reeling in’ the ‘fish’ and repeating all over again. That’s how fishing works – you keep tossing out the line and (if you’re lucky) you catch some fish.

Whilst often done in small groups, the angler’s craft is essentially a solitary one. You vs. the fish, your skill against their wiles, with the bait on the line (no pun). Perhaps you might ask a mate to share in the glory at the end by holding the net to finally land it. Nevertheless, it goes down as ‘your’ fish, particularly if it is a big one.

Yet this isn’t an altogether accurate representation of the image Jesus was trying to convey. In referring to his apostles as fishers of men, he was not trying to tell them that he was going to equip them with rod and reel and send them out to bring in converts. You see, fishermen of the day used nets. Consider the following story:

1One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

- Luke 5:1-7

Jesus’ model for evangelism is one of teamwork. You may only be one of several people around the edge of the net, but unless you do your part there will be no ‘catch’. You may never have a fish you can call ‘yours’, but if you fish where Jesus tells you to and in the way he tells you (i.e. in partnership with others) then you can expect to see your nets and boats so full that you will need to bring in help!