In my life I have had many opportunities to go fishing…sport fishing for big game fish in Cabo, halibut fishing with my grandpa in Alaska, fishing as a teenager along the Toutle River just before Mt St Helens erupted, in the Pacific Ocean on a charter boat with Dave hoping to catch some salmon (all we ended up catching was a good dose of seasickness), and multiple other times locally, including trout fishing with my kids at Kline Line lake right here in Vancouver. 

 Although I have caught fish, I must admit…I SUCK AT FISHING.  I have come to realize that with the cost and the hassles of fishing, - like the seasickness, the discomfort, the early mornings, - it’s just not worth it.  I like to fish at Safeway. I go on my terms, I don’t get wet, I don’t get sick and the best part is I don’t have to get up early.  

In this blog I want to talk about a time in the life of Jesus when he calls fishermen to be his disciples.  "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Mark 1:17

I have often wondered why did Jesus call us fishermen…why not farmers of men? why not contractors of men?.  This made me think about some correlations between fishing for fish and BEING fishers of men, and how it relates to us specifically as church leaders.  

The Potential of Fishing
… is catching (or in my case maybe - not catching).  If you don’t fish you don’t catch. It’s a pretty simple concept.  People fish because they hope they will catch.  There is a level of optimism.   I see all of the thermal imaging, GPS, sonar equipment etc and it is quite intriguing.   In fishing for men, we have to believe God will bring the results.   With Jesus, he simply says if you are willing to leave what has defined you, I will make you something you aren't.  I will do something through you that you can't do yourself.  Jesus sees potential in YOU.   He wants you to leave what has defined you and see what he sees.  It’s easy to rely on our strengths or fall back on systems and programs that have worked in the past, but potential always involves risk.  The best fishing often involves the riskiest location.  Is your church risking it all to reach the next person?

The Patience and Practice of Fishing. 
We see many people sit and sit and wait and sit and wait in the Columbia and Willamette rivers during Salmon and Steelhead fishing.  The hog line they call it.  Boats almost on top of each other, with fisher..people huddled together hoping to land a big one.  Am I missing something here?  Isn't it about catching so we can eat?  Or is it in fact more about just the process?   Perhaps a lesson we can all learn from experienced fishermen is that it isn’t about the end result, but the journey.  

Jesus never refers to us as "catchers" of men, so we need to learn that the catching is his part.  My part is to be obedient, which means to be patient, to be faithful in sharing my faith, to constantly create opportunities for people to respond. As a leader I’m responsible to drop the line where the fish are.  I think we too often create services we like in buildings we love, and fail to recognize that no new ‘fish’ are swimming by.   I have to practice and be patient at the same time.   How are you doing with this?   I so often give up on people who don't respond in my timing – just like when I fish.   Instead of letting love prevail, I become impatient and give up.   Jesus said He would build his church – our part is to keep believing, keep practicing, keep being patient and keep praying, then watch what Jesus will do.   

The Partnership in Fishing. 
Almost every time I have fished, I have been with a guide or a friend that knew more than me, and wanted to help me learn to fish  I love this in fishing, and I love this about Jesus.   He could have said, "you go fish" I will catch up to you, but he invested in 12 young men who revolutionized the whole world.  It’s incredible to think about all that Jesus accomplished by his power, through their faith, for his glory.  

A guide takes you to the best opportunities and is glad when you "catch" a fish.  Mostly in fact they do the cleaning (nice of them).  That is the way it is with Jesus.  We do the catching, and he does the cleaning.  We lead them to a relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit begins to change them from the inside out.   So many at Living Hope have found Jesus through someone ‘guiding’ them to what’s best.

We have the privilege of partnering with Christ to catch the attention of the world.  As church leaders we must never become apathetic toward our ultimate purpose:   "To make disciples...baptizing them...teaching them…”

The Passion for Fishing.  
Being passionate is being desperate.   If we could only eat what we caught, we wouldn't quit fishing so soon.   How much more does it matter that someone spends forever in Heaven with Christ?    As fishers of men it is always to soon to quit. 

Moving Living Hope Church twice in less than 18 months wasn't for fun, it was so we could be better positioned to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus.  My prayer is that you will stay or become desperate, and that as church leaders we will always be passionate about reaching the next one person.  

Passion matters...a lot, just ask Jesus."

Edited from 'Dangerous Church'  Chapter Two:

Anyone who travels as much as I do knows that no one really cares about our luggage like we do.  We are the ones who have lovingly folded and packed, repacked and checked our precious belongings.  We hope others will love that luggage like we do, but the truth is people only truly care about what belongs to them.

  Some time ago I was travelling home after speaking in Australia, and had to make an unplanned connection flight.  Honestly, I was worried about the chances of my luggage arriving at the same time as me, but after finally landing in Los Angeles some thirty hours later and navigating through U.S. Customs, I stood and patiently waited with the other passengers for our luggage to arrive on the carousel. Soon, bags started arriving, and most of the passengers picked up their baggage and left.  After forty-five minutes of waiting, I began losing hope.  All that remained on the luggage carousel was a taped-up piece of Samsonite® luggage rotating around and around, and unfortunately, it wasn’t mine.  I asked the flight attendants, who were leaving with their luggage, to check again for me.  Sadly, there was nothing to be found.  I was stuck there with no luggage, just mounting frustration and irritation.  After asking them to double-check the aircraft and finding nothing I felt hopeless and discouraged.

In situations like this, it’s nice to find someone who understands how you feel. I was looking for a little compassion and sympathy from the airline people, but my problems and frustrations seemed quite low on their list of priorities.  I began to think about what I was feeling and how blind the workers were to my needs—how little they really cared about helping me recover what had been lost.

Apathy, by definition, is simply the state of being indifferent.  It happens among airport workers, to be sure, but it also happens in our homes, our churches, even in our hearts.  Indifference is grounded in a lack of interest, a lack of concern for other people. When it came to my luggage, I was probably the only one who wasn’t apathetic.  After all, these were my clothes, my research for this book, pictures of my kids—things that wouldn’t matter to most people, but they were valuable to me.

In the end, I did get my suitcase back.  It was in bad shape and looked pretty beat up, and I’m quite sure they sent it strapped to the wing of the airplane. The tags were missing, it was torn in several places, and the connection buckle was broken.  But none of that mattered, only that I got back what had been lost and was valuable to me. To be honest, I would rather have my luggage back, beaten up and broken, than not have it at all.

In much the same way, the things that matter most to God are those things that belong to him—even when they are lost.  Psalm 24:1 reminds us that everything already belongs to God: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.”  And God cares about the people that belong to him. God, as the sovereign Lord of all that exists, calls us to search for the lost people that belong to him. 

Over the years, I’ve noticed how common it is for us to understand something in principle but fail to put it into practice.  On two separate occasions Jesus talked with his followers about leaving what was safe and secure in order to go after what had wandered away and was now lost. 

The parables of Luke 15 wonderfully illustrate this idea.  Incidentally, this section of Scripture happens to be the only time Jesus tells parables that talk about the same topic three times in a row—a sign that this really mattered to him!  The problem with each of us is that we tend to become just like the TSA guy helping people find their lost luggage.  Over time, we lose touch with that sense of pain and discouragement that comes when something important is lost and we grow apathetic and indifferent to the needs of people. I call it “mission drift,” that natural tendency to wander away from the primary goal and instead adopt the path of least resistance. 

The truth that we hate to admit to ourselves is that we usually don’t care too much about things that are lost, unless they are our things.  We understand why God cares for lost people, but how can we overcome the gap between our apathy and lack of concern for the lost and the clear passion of God’s heart for those who have wandered from his loving arms?  Why don’t the things that matter to God matter to us as well?

What’s the Problem?

For the past several years, I have been thinking about the problems we face in our contemporary church culture.  Jesus unequivocally promised us that: “He would build His church” (Matthew 16:18).  So what has happened here in the United States?  Is the building process intentionally slow?  Or have we dropped the ball and fallen away from our primary mission? 

In his book, The Condition of the Church in America: Key Statistics, Andy McAdams finds that of all the churches in America, over eighty-five percent are declining or have plateaued in attendance. Of the fifteen percent of churches that are growing in size, less than five percent are growing by conversion.  The majority of churches that grow, grow by natural means (people having babies)[1]. Think about that for a moment. According to George Barna, “With its 195 million unchurched people, America has become the new mission field. America has more unchurched people than the entire populations of all but 11 of the world’s 194 nations.”[2]  The task of reaching the unchurched in our own cities and neighborhoods is greater than we realize.  Yes, we have a daunting task to complete, but it is also a golden opportunity.

At the Catalyst West conference in 2009 I had the honor of an invitation to breakfast with Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, and some other key leaders from around the country.  I felt like I was sitting with the Yoda’s of the church, a wealth of collective wisdom and experience.  At the breakfast Rick Warren shared something that was both simple and profound, and it reinforced the necessary priority of evangelism in the life of the church.  Rick said:  “Evangelism is the main thing, and all the other purposes are about preparation for the mission.” Rick’s words are not all that different from the testimony of the Apostle Paul, who spent his life preaching the gospel all over the Mediterranean world.  In Acts 20:24, Paul is quoted as saying, “My life is worth nothing unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus – the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” Paul understood what we need to re-learn today: the mission of telling others about Jesus needs to be everything to us.

One of our most faithful ushers, Lance, brings someone with him to church almost every week. Lance lives out the gospel and knows that God’s kingdom is built one person at a time as lives are transformed.    Recently, after one of our weekend services, I met a guy named Tim standing by the auditorium doors.  He looked a bit lost, like he was waiting for someone, so I walked over to talk with him and introduce myself.  Not surprisingly, I learned that Tim was a visitor, and had been invited to attend by Lance.  Sensing that something was bothering him, I asked him if he was doing okay.  He looked me in the eyes and said to me (I quote): “I am a lost man…. and I want to be found.”  Now that is an open invitation if I’ve ever heard one! As I shared this good news with him, I could literally see the grace of God awakening in his heart.  Tim had never been in a church before—ever.  He had been invited that day because someone cared about him.  Someone chose to not be apathetic, someone chose to look past the busyness of their day to day “stuff” and see a human being made in God’s image in need of a Savior.  As he prayed to receive Christ, tears began to roll down his cheeks.  Tim is now learning more about what it means to follow Christ.  He is living for Jesus each day, grateful that someone responded to God’s call and reached out to love him.

Lost people matter to God.  They are his preciously packed luggage, and they belong to him.   Until we recapture this essential priority in our hearts and in our churches we won’t experience the power that accompanies the mission of God to the lost—the power that saves and transforms lives for eternity.

Be ready.    Be ready in season and out.  In other words 'whether you feel like it or not'.   Be ready to Preach the Word.   There are so many people that are "waiting" and preparing and never actually speak because of fear or from being stretched out of our comfort zone, but to be ready is to be available and trusting the Holy Spirit to empower you.

 the first time I ever spoke, I was handed a Bible in Mexico (had been a Christian for only a few months).  I wasn't ready to be used, but God was ready to use my story.  I shared the only verse I knew.  John 3:16.  I shared my story and experience and asked people to respond.  Paul tells Timothy "do the work of an evangelist"   I could never have believed what would happen.   Every woman in that little village who had never heard about Jesus responded to Him in faith.   Later, we did an evening service, where many of their husbands and teens responded as well, and then we did a baptism service.  It was really incredible.   It taught me that the best preparation is availability to God.  We are good at being ready "in season" but Paul puts just as must emphasis on being ready "out of season"    Be willing to be interrupted.  See what God might do.

About a month ago, My wife and I were traveling from Portland, Oregon to Mexico. Before we had even reached cruising altitude it became clear something was wrong. while one attendant grabbed oxygen, another got on the intercom asking any doctors or nurses on board to come forward.  One of the passengers was having trouble breathing, and the flight made an emergency landing in San Francisco.

What started as a comfortable flight of people heading for vacation had now drastically changed.  People forgot about their own needs as they noticed what was happening, and the flight attendants were focused not on the rest of us, but on one young man.

As the situation unfolded I saw an incredibly clear picture of the way things are now, and the way things should be, in our churches.    There were almost 150 “paying” customers expecting to go where they had planned.  They had paid, and deserved to get what they paid for.  I think there is a picture here of what is today in most churches.    It seems so many churches are filled with paying customers.  People who give, then expect to have a say on what the church does,  and in many cases designate where their tithe is spent.  

 I call this ENTITLEMENT CONFUSION.   When we get to the point where it is about our plan, our time, our programs, our “vacation”, and  what we want in our worship services, instead of being about Christ followers,  we have drifted from the mission.

 After all, I had paid a full fare, and being comfortable for the ride was my goal.  In this case, the moment there was an issue, is the moment the leaders began to do what they had to do.  They did what mattered most.  They put aside the needs of the other passengers to tend to the one who needed help the most.  

The comparison is so obvious, and yet ridiculous at the same time.   Jesus gave clear teaching on His heart to reach people.  Luke 19:10, “For I, the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost”  Luke 15 has three parables.  99 sheep, safe and comfortable and Jesus says a Shepherd will go after the one.   Or in our case - land a plane for the one.

I love this definition:

Narcissists hold unreasonable expectations of particularly favorable treatment and automatic compliance because they consider themselves special. Failure to comply is considered an attack on their superiority, and the perpetrator is considered an "awkward" or "difficult" person.
   

In the chaos of that flight, I noticed a few hundred people who didn’t get their peanuts and didn’t care.  This was a life and death scenario.  Who in their right mind wouldn’t understand that?    All that mattered was the one person that was sick.  Why is it we can clearly see this on a plane and miss this in our churches?   

The Flight Attendants had one job.  LEAD.  DO WHAT IS RIGHT.  DO IT WITHOUT A VOTE, or even a consensus.  Even if it makes the others uncomfortable, do what it takes to save the one.   

As leaders of churches and ministries, in order to be dangerous, you need to step up and lead.  You cannot expect things to just fall into place.  We have to be willing to be interrupted both personally and corporately, for what matters most to the heart of God.    Every church is filled with people who are comfortable and even feel entitlement.  “Pastor I need this”,  “ can we do this,” etc.   First what has to change is someone has to lead, put the right people in the right places and trust God for the right end result.

The OBGYN nurse that came forward was on vacation.   She gave medical attention to the young man, and even more than that, showed great compassion for him.   Again, it reminded me of the good samaritan.  Willing to be inconvenienced because someone needed help. 

When the day was over, we still ended up getting to our destination.  People still got to “vacation”.   Plans were changed and the airplane was rerouted but someone who was sick got to be helped.    When the nurse walked back to her seat, she was welcomed by cheers and applause.       

“In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10

Again, I paused to connect that Jesus says when one sinner repents heaven rejoices.       

I personally don’t want to lead a bunch of ‘entitled’ people who are just about control and satisfying their own needs.   I want to be part of a church that is dangerous.  A church that will risk, that will leave the 99 for the one.  A church that will land the airplane so one person can get what they need.  A church that will be about reaching even to the expense of keeping those who are already convinced.  A church that will celebrate because for 2000 years it has never been about thousands, but it has always been about the one person.  The one changed life.

I pray we will be a church where people can sense and experience Jesus.  A church that loves its God and serves its city.  A church that is about both grace and truth, and where you can hear the dangerous message of the gospel and be changed.

It’s your move.

I am very blessed and grateful to God for the privilege of writing a book called Dangerous Church. I am thankful to pastors, professors and authors, all friends, who endorsed and believed in the book, and am so thankful to be part of a church that is truly dangerous.

One of the big ideas of being a church that is dangerous is the reality of a statement Jesus said in John chapter one: 

^“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth"  (John 1:14) ESV

We often quote just the first part of this passage: “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us.”   Most leaders get that.   From a Theological perspective, we believe Jesus is God and that He dwelt on earth.  We believe He was brutalized, tortured and publicly crucified for all of us.  On Easter the vast majority of Evangelical churches will gather to celebrate the fact of Jesus rising from the dead.  

The part of Jesus we miss is that he came "full of grace and truth".  Today, there seems to be a movement toward universalism.  It is not a new teaching, in fact has been around almost since the church began 2000 years ago.  In a basic sense, the teaching says everyone from every religion in all times will end up in heaven.  The problem with that teaching - and why most every universalist church that has begun has eventually die  - is that we take Jesus out of the picture.  

 Jesus said emphatically "I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through Me"  John 14:6  That is a massively big statement.  He clearly said there is Heaven and that the only way to that ultimate destination is through Him - Through faith in Christ, confessing we cannot get there in any other way.  The Bible says that it has been appointed for each of us to die and then to face judgment.  There is a reality of Heaven and also a reality of Hell.  Jesus only established one thing, and that was (and is) the church.  When you take Jesus out of the church, you take hope out of the lives of people.  

Jesus made the statement, "You are the salt of the earth"  Matthew 5:13.

Salt always changes what it touches. Salt makes a difference. Salt was extremely valuable in the days of Jesus.  He is making an observation here: We are salt. Salt is both a statement of value and vision.   As Christ followers we have both value in Christ, and we have to be about vision for Christ.

People loved Jesus, simply because He loved them.  He was FULL of both grace and truth.  Churches have to be about grace.  That is attractional. Churches have to also be about Truth.  That is missional.  When a church is both attractional and missional it is fulfilling the vision for Christ.

One last observation that is pretty obvious: Salt is not sugar.   To be a dangerous church means we have to both about grace and truth.  Grace is messy.  It seems like we want grace the most relationally but give it the least corporately.    To tell the truth takes guts.  It takes courage.  It means maybe you (as a pastor) might not be the most popular person.  It also means that you allow Jesus to speak to the heart of people.  We are not the message, but we are the messengers.  If a church is about sugar, it is about mediocrity and safety.  If a church is about salt, it is about the story of God and His plan to change the world.  

 My prayer is that churches in America and around the world will once again become dangerous for the sake of the gospel.  I pray that this Easter, we will stand on stages and platforms around the world and TELL THE TRUTH.   It is our time to stop playing church games and begin to love our cities.  A church cannot change until a leader has the guts to change first.

Eternity is real.  Heaven is real.  Hell is real.  This Easter, I pray that churches will storm the gates of hell.   You cannot get to hell without first going around the cross.  

Be full of grace and truth.  Let God do the rest.  

Stay dangerous.