Fishing Revolution

Last night I attended a breakfast por la noche for NewSpring, a ministry that is empowering business development in the Spring Branch area of Houston. Jim Herrington (Mission Houston) was the host and in his remarks about missional living really got me thinking.

You’ve probably heard the proverb:

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

But what if you wanted to revolutionize the fishing industry?

Too many churches (both mainstream and non-traditional) have been fishing (Jesus said when we follow Him we become fishermen) for years (and years and years) with pretty much the same methods. We might update the equipment now and then or come up with really flashy fishing lures but for the most part we all been in the “how do we attract the fish” paradigm.

One of the shifts that has the potential to revolutionize the fishing industry is a movement from attracting the fish to living with the fish. It’s a shift from attractional to incarnational – which when you think about it is God’s move that we celebrate next month.

Revolutions require three things:

Leadership. Specifically, leadership that cares enough to be incarnational. Incarnational leaders invest all that they have to the revolution. It becomes the very air they breathe.

Partnership. We can’t sustain a revolution on our own. Partnerships between churches and schools and businesses and government is essential – and it can happen – it is happening.

Sacrifice. No revolution takes places without cost and a willingness to risk whatever it cost to sustain the revolution.

As I head into the Christmas season where we will be proclaiming that Christmas can still make a difference (revolutionize the world) I’m asking myself:

Is my leadership incarnational?
Who are my partners?
What sacrifices am I willing to risk?

To the glory of God!