A SAYING AND A SHOWING

“If you give a man a fish he is hungry again in an hour. If you teach him to catch a fish you do him a good turn” (Extract from Mrs. Dymond, a novel by Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie, 1885)

There are many variations of the saying above. Most of us have heard the saying expressed this way, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” The origin of this often-quoted saying is credited to a variety of sources. Some say the origin of this thought comes from a Chinese source. Other contribute it to Native Americans. Still others claim the adage originated in India or Italy. Regardless of the source, I think we would all agree that that the statement has some validity.

However, if you want to look at a showing instead of a saying, look at Jesus and His disciples. Consider Matthew 4:19-20. It says, “And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” This is at the start of their discipleship. Jesus would teach them how to become fishers of men first. He did not give them an immediate of or even a abbreviated, quick lesson and then after doing so, sent them on their way with a disciple assignment. They needed some development that would take them from enthusiastic beginners to achievers prepared to carry out the work of going to make disciples and expanding the kingdom of God. For three years these men would be taught principles, taught truths in that connected with past times, and they would be taught, observing Jesus and by taking note of the power of God as manifested in His ministry. If I look at the two quotes mentioned above, we can say that Jesus taught the disciples how to catch fish and He did the disciples a  good turn, or we can say that Jesus taught them and fed them for a lifetime. Yes, a lifetime, because their lives would be spent being fishers of men, eventually dying as martyrs of the faith.

It was not until we get to the end of Matthew’s gospel to see where Jesus gave the disciples The Great Commission. It was not until He was ready to ascend back to the Father that He told them to be His witnesses. It was not until after He had taken them through Blanchard’s four stages of development; from being enthusiastic beginners, to being disillusioned learners, to then being capable but cautious disciples, and finally to where they could be self-reliant achievers, with the exception of depending on the help of the Holy Spirit, the power that Jesus promised them, and a dependence on what they had seen and heard.

My friend, I have confidence that in your lifetime, you will recruit and retain unsaved individuals, and you will bring them into the kingdom. Follow Jesus’ example and don’t just call them one of His disciples and send them out. Instead, devote some time to their development. If you do that, their disciple classification will go beyond the day that they accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord; the day that they coming to the front of the church as the choir sang, “I want to be a follower of Christ. I want to be one of His disciples.” Help them go beyond their response to the preached word and being a byproduct of your personal evangelism. Disciple them, develop them, and then they will assume the role of adding souls to the kingdom of God.

Please revisit the saying and the showing. Please take note of Jesus’ model and then apply it on an ongoing basis in your life. Have a great day. Be blessed!

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)

Committed to the climb,

Mark L. King