Leadership Thought: What I Learned from Pastor Bruce Seymour about How I Can Be a Fisher of Men.

Dear Friend,

Yesterday I spent the afternoon packing my books and going through some file cabinets as I prepare to move my ministry resources to my home.

In going through those files, I found a large number of interesting folders on different subjects, all filed and left by Dr. Bruce Seymour who once pastored New Monmouth Church in the early 2000's.

Bruce is unfortunately suffering from Parkinson's Disease, and I feel a closeness to him for this is the tragic disease that took my wife's life last year.

The other day I called Dr. Seymour, and I told him how impressed I was with some of the material he had left behind in his filing cabinet. There were wonderful training materials on spiritual gifts, mentoring, discipleship, but the one file that most attracted my attention was the folder labeled "Class 401," a class on evangelism which contained some wonderful teaching material.

Since I consider sharing my faith to be the most important aspect of any pastor's ministry, I took a moment to sit down and go through his "Class 401 folder on evangelism.

I share this teaching as a tribute to Dr. Seymour for his incredible vision and leadership which was largely responsible for turning a dream into a beautiful gym which we now call  our Family Ministry Center  which after Covid is  where we now worship and do ministry outreach. 

I would like to share part of the message on doing evangelism that  I found in his file cabinet.

In using the analogy of a fisherman looking to catch fish, he shared several tips for those seeking to win souls for Christ.

Dr. Bruce writes: "When we are witnessing, we need to remember to be very aware of our motives. Why do we want to bring people to Jesus? Here is where my fishing analogy breaks down a bit. Usually, the fishermen are not thinking much about what is good for the fish, but as fishers of men, we should be thinking about what is good for them." 

"What made Jesus so attractive to people was his love. People could tell he really cared for them, and that he loved them. We need to be like Jesus. Bringing people to Jesus begins by caring for them, really liking them. We need to enter into a relationship with them just for the joy of the relationship, not for what we will get from the relationship later on."

"We must earn the right to be heard by listening to them. When the time comes to witness, the method is not so important. They should know us well enough to sense our sincerity. They will know we are thinking about them like a fisherman thins about the fish he desires to catch."

"But then, secondly, he suggests that we give the fish respect. We must realize that it is up to the fish to decide if he wants to respond. It's up to the fish to decide. You cannot make the fish jump into the boat. All you can do is make the offer as clear and as attractive as possible."

"You have to let the fish decide. It is exactly that way with people. Our job is to witness and tell them what is true in our personal experience. It is the Holy Spirit's job to save them. Jesus told us that in explaining why the Holy Spirit would do." 

He said: "When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment." (John 16:8) 

"Later, the apostle Paul put it this way, 'I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, But God made it grow.'" (1 Corinthians 3:6). 

"Paul witnessed, Apollos did more witnessing, but God gave life. God made it grow. We have to respect that process which means we have to give the unsaved person the same respect God does. God allowed them to decide. and we should show them the same respect."

"The third tip is to let God do the work. Jesus said he would make us fishers of men. come. In Matthew 4:19 Jesus says, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

"Notice the sequence. we are reminded to follow Jesus, and then he will make no species of men during the process of personal invitation to follow Jesus. in other words, the first person We need to bring is ourselves Jesus said, first, "Come, follow me." 

"When we accept that invitation, then God goes to work. God does the work. We come- He makes.  I cannot tell you how freeing that was when I noticed that."

"I stopped feeling guilty that I was not much of an evangelist and realized  God must not be finished with me yet. Making me into a fisher of man is his work. I cannot hurry that, but I can hinder it. One of the sad realities of life is that we can quench the spirit, and we can delay what he is trying to do in our lives. I'm afraid that is exactly what many of us do in the area of evangelism. 

"Jesus is trying to make us into fishers of men, and we are reluctant, resistant, and refusing. We will not go. We will not witness. We will not prepare for the opportunity. We will not even think about it. I do not know why."

"If you sense some of that resistance in your own heart, may I encourage you to do a simple, but difficult thing? Let God do his work. In the quietness of this moment, just say to God, 'I am sorry I have resisted you in this area. I want to be what you want me to be. Please do your work. Make me into a fisher of men." 

That good stuff from the files of our brother in the faith and pastor, Dr. Bruce Seymour.

Thanks, Bruce, for encouraging me and others to become what Jesus calls us to be. 

So, let's decide to stop correcting and start connecting with people. Let's stop cleaning those fish and start catching those fish. So, we might truly become fishers of men.

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom

P.S. "At the end of the day, the biggest obstacle to evangelism is Christians who don't share the gospel." Albert Mohler