In Luke 5 and 6, when Jesus tells Peter, “From now on you will catch men,” He immediately begins reshaping what that calling means. He does not lead Peter into a synagogue and tell him to remain there. He walks him into real life — into streets, workplaces, and crowded homes. The leper is outside the religious system. Levi is at his tax booth. Sinners are gathered around a dinner table. The broken are not sitting in services waiting to be reached — so Jesus goes where they are. From the beginning, the lesson is clear: you cannot fish in an aquarium.
Church, then, is not the pond — it is where nets are mended. It is where fishermen are trained. Every sermon, every prayer, every song, every correction from the Word is shaping us for something beyond the walls. We are not being trained simply to attend faithfully, but to engage courageously. The gathering fuels the mission; it does not replace it. We come together to worship, to repent, to be strengthened — so that we can go back out with clarity and conviction.
Religious tradition, when it loses its purpose, can quietly turn us inward instead of sending us outward. Routines and ceremonies have value, but they can become heavy if we let them define our faith. When attendance becomes the measure of devotion, guilt can replace mission. We begin to feel faithful for sitting rather than going.
In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders protected their rituals so carefully that they failed to see the hurting people right in front of them. What was meant to honor God became a wall instead of a doorway. And when guilt replaces calling, fishermen stop casting.
Jesus did not free His disciples to trap them in a system; He freed them to follow Him into the harvest. He taught them to love enemies, forgive quickly, refuse hypocrisy, and build their lives on obedience. He was shaping men whose lives would speak before their mouths ever did. It has been said, “Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.” While the gospel must be spoken, the first message people encounter is who we are. The true strength of a fisherman is a life that reflects Jesus — steady under pressure, full of mercy, anchored in truth.
And when opposition comes — even from religious voices — the fisherman stands firm. In Luke 6, Jesus is questioned and accused, yet He continues to heal and to love. A real fisherman knows whom he has believed. His confidence is not in approval or attendance records, but in Christ.
Church gathers us to be formed. But we are not called to sit — we are called to cast. The nets are prepared here. The water is outside.