The Yaque del Norte River, the longest river in the Dominican Republic, meanders its way through the heart of Santiago. In a busy city with many people, this river serves as an oasis for locals and guests alike. Although one can still hear the city noises, the river offers a different landscape than the bustling city surrounding it.
I watched a man sitting on his five gallon bucket fishing off the side of the bridge. I asked what he would catch to my host. The host immediately told me that although he was fishing, and may in fact catch fish, the problem is that the river through the city suffers from great pollution. The water’s pollution makes the fish unhealthy for human consumption.
This Is Why We Are Here
In the same instance, my mind immediately connected what that fisherman was doing with what we do. Who? Specifically, the team from Sonrise and Baptist Bible College that serve here this week in the Dominican, but generally, all Christians everywhere who share the good news of the Gospel.
As Jesus said to the four Galilean fishermen Peter, Andrew, James, and John, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt 4:19). Jesus likened sharing the Good News of the Gospel with those who do not know Him as Savior of their sins, fishing for men.
In Many Ways We Do the Same Things
As that man sat on his five gallon bucket fishing in this polluted river, I thought about how every Christian seeks to fish for people who desperately need the Gospel. These individuals in the world around us are in polluted water.
Paul describes the context of those who do not follow Jesus yet in the following way:
“And you, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you ounce walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Eph 2:1-3).
Essentially, Paul describes the polluted river in which all people live. We live in the context of the pollution of the course of this world, under the influence of the prince of the power of the air, and under the dominance of our own flesh. These three together speak to the significance of the pollution all around us and in us. Pollution so significant that unless someone catches us out of these conditions, the individual upon death goes to eternal punishment.
It’s Not Enough to just View the River, You Need to Fish
As followers of Christ, it is not enough for us to simply take time to look at the river all around us. We can’t just settle to be observers only. We must fish in order to rescue men, women, boys, and girls from the polluted river. People desperately all around us depend upon us actually fishing – not just observing, talking about it, or just planning on doing it someday – in order for them to experience the rescue the Gospel offers.
Will you be a fisher of men in the midst of polluted water today?
Picture of a family collecting trash off the river
KevinCarson.com | Wisdom for Life in Christ Together