THE TARGET
It’s a very cold morning.
The fisherman is dressed very warmly in the finest outdoor clothing.
Together with his buddy, they trek across the frozen lake to the spot
they are fairly sure to find lots of fish. Once there, they slowly,
quietly, turn the auger to make a couple holes. Finding the fish is
the key to ice fishing. The cold water makes them hang together in
tight schools. The fish move very slowly, staying in some areas for
hours. Fishing in the wrong place can really be boring.
If the hole is in the right area though, fishing is great. Quite often
a good fisherman can fill a five gallon bucket with pan fish in an
hour or two. Fishing like this can be great fun. But what if you were
the fish?
As a fish, warmth is a must. When it’s cold, movement is slow.
Finding food is harder and a fisherman’s bait is quite tempting.
Oh, a wax worm on a fisherman’s hook is a delicacy for sure.
Oh, there’s one now! Crunch! OW!! NO! NO! NO! Out of the water,
in the fisherman’s pale, life is very short. Such is the life
of many Christians today.
Our churches today are full of stories of Christians that have fallen
pray to Satan’s hook. What is missing? Why aren’t churches
today able to train up young Christians and help them avoid getting
caught on Satan’s hook? What’s wrong with our message
or our focus? Sunday after Sunday good sound messages from the Word
of God are presented. Our Sunday school teachers seem to have good
knowledge of the Bible. Yet, something is just not working. The average
Christian today seems more influenced by society and the media than
by the Word of God. Although a great longing in the heart draws the
Christian, pulls and pleads. The heart cry goes unfulfilled. Satan
has effectively clouded the scene and dropped in his own message,
the hook.
Such has been the story over and over again, all across America. Many
churches had their period of great evangelistic zeal, but now more
and more members are getting caught on Satan’s hook. Oh, most
don’t think they are caught. They attend church every time the
door is open. Some sing in the choir. Some teach in a Sunday school
class. Many just warm the pew. Slowly, as the regulars get older the
numbers get smaller and smaller.
As a result, some churches are even closing their doors. Americans
don’t seem interested in church any more. Is evolutionary theory
the problem? Has our culture changed so much that church has lost
its appeal? Many church leaders today identify the problem as a lack
of proper discipleship. The church simply has failed to properly disciple
its converts.
Discipleship is important, indeed. Imagine a world where babies were
born right and left, millions upon millions of them. As soon as they
were born, the babies were put out the door to fend for themselves.
Of course food was always available. There were trees with plenty
of fruit. Wait a minute, can babies eat fruit? Who would pick it for
them? Who would mash it up for them? Who would teach them to dress,
to talk, to read, etc? This doesn’t sound like a good idea.
Wouldn’t work too long, would it? Soon there would be no one
to produce more babies. Soon the world would mainly be populated with
older folks. That’s the story of our churches today. Just as
babies need to be fed and trained, so do new believers in Christ.
Discipleship courses and books on discipleship are available. Yet
something is still not working. This lesson and those that follow
are designed to provide what is missing. First, the right target must
be identified. If after all, the wrong target is sought after, the
end result will not be what God is after. The wrong target will cause
the Christian to become frustrated, so also would the wrong method.
The method will be dealt with later.
