Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. Jesus, desiring above all to make friends and influence people, knew that his only hope was to spend a day fishing with the boys. Knowing that he had to become all things to all men, the next morning Jesus hopped into the fishing boat with Simon and Andrew, with his holy fishing net in hand.
After spending a good day chumming with his new pals, things got a bit awkward as Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they were offended because he didn’t affirm their lifestyle. Their very identity was wrapped up in being fisherman, it was the deepest part of who they were. So they scoffed at the notion that Jesus would call them to be something different than fishers of fish. Thankfully, before they leveled words like “narrow” and “bigoted” Jesus decided love and relationship was more important, so he left his cross and became a fisherman.
-Mark 1:16-18 (modernized just a bit to fit our terrific strategies for cultural engagement)
