Converting Conversations

When someone accepts the Good News, there is nothing quite like that feeling.

When my dad and mom (Phil and Kay) started their journey together with Jesus and agreed that God would be the center of their marriage, that choice was a game changer for our entire family. While I was just a little guy at the time, I often think about how different life might have been had they not heard the Gospel. Or if they did hear it and chose not to believe.

My aunt Jan, Dad’s sister, had a very strong faith. She loved my parents and us kids. Jan hated seeing what her brother’s choices were doing to our family. So, she went to her pastor in West Monroe, Louisiana—a man named Bill Smith—and asked him to go talk to her wayward brother. Now, every day people go to their pastors and ask them to talk to someone. The typical answer might be something like, “Well, invite them to church on Sunday and I’ll be glad to visit with them at the altar call or after church.” Or maybe, “Sure, have them reach out to my secretary and we’ll schedule an appointment.”

But Aunt Jan made it clear to Pastor Bill that Dad was not going to set foot in any church, so he would have to go to him. She asked Bill to go talk to Dad at an interesting place—the bar he owned and managed. Still open to helping Jan, he asked, “Okay, which bar in town is it?” Jan answered, “Well, it’s not here. It’s in southern Arkansas, about an hour away.”

All of us Robertsons thank God that Pastor Bill was willing to take the time and the risk to drive to a bar in another state to tell a man who might never be able to do anything for him or his church about the Good News of Jesus. As you can tell by the story, Bill overcame a lot of the usual barriers we can use as excuses to not share Jesus. But the one thing my Aunt Jan said to Pastor Bill that may have made a difference: “If you convert Phil Robertson, he’ll convert a thousand.”

All these years later, it’s been a thousand alright, thousands of times over. Whether one person at our kitchen table or a massive crowd in an arena, on our TV show or his podcast, countless people have heard and received the Gospel from Phil Robertson. That’s the legacy that Korie and I and our own family are carrying out in our lives today.

Pastor Bill’s conversation with my dad reminds me of when Peter met Jesus. That first encounter would immediately get any fisherman’s attention. I know it got mine! Jesus was preaching to a large crowd on the shoreline, while Peter, James, and John were nearby washing out their nets from an all-nighter where they were skunked—catching absolutely no fish. Seeing two empty boats and knowing the water would be a natural way to better carry His voice to the crowd, Jesus stepped into one of the boats and asked Peter to push it out a little further into the water. Peter immediately did what the Lord asked without any questions. When Jesus was done teaching the crowd, He turned His focus to Peter, giving him a really interesting instruction.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

Luke 5:4-5

While Peter didn’t argue with the Lord, he did qualify his answer with a polite, “just in case you missed it, we did spend all night trying.” Yet, what was about to happen was the first of many times Peter would witness Jesus make a whole lot out of little to nothing.

When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

Luke 5:6-7

As a kid, the first time I read how Jesus blessed some exhausted fishermen with a boatful after a bad night, I knew I was all-in. But that’s when the story gets even bigger and better than just a good catch. Peter’s life was about to change forever. Just like my parents, my brothers, and me.

When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats upon shore, left everything and followed him.

Luke 5:8-11

Even as a kid, I also knew that “fishing for people” was hard work. I had seen that in my parents’ lives. You need to study Scripture. You have to care about folks, dedicating a lot of time and patience. But also, much like pulling a big fish up out of the water, when someone accepts the Good News, there is nothing quite like that feeling. The “catch” is part of what gives us courage to carry on fishing.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

What can we learn about caring for people by how Jesus used a bad night of fishing to reach Peter, James, and John?

Fishing is a good analogy for being a gospeler, but how might your work or career be used to become a way for you to help others hear and understand the Gospel?