I’m not a
fisherman. Three times in my life I’ve taken fishing rod in hand, and caught
nary a thing. If survival were based on my fishing skills, my family and I
would have perished . I went deep-sea fishing once in Florida. Apparently, I fed a
lot of fish because my bait kept disappearing, but didn’t catch any.
As a
result, I’ve never engaged in “catch and release.” In case you’ve not heard of
it – which means you’re also not a fisher-person – it’s when a fish is caught,
reeled in, admired (maybe with a souvenir photo), and then tossed back into the
water, whether it’s a pond, river, sea or ocean. A humane practice, I’m told:
the fisherman experiences the thrill of the catch, and the fish lives to swim
another day.
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| Film presents powerful lessons about "catch and release." |
Catch-and-release
may be humane – unless those being released are humans. This came to my mind while
viewing the excellent film, “Same Kind of Different as Me.” It presents several
compelling story lines – including healing a broken marriage, rebuilding a
strained father-son relationship, and an affluent couple’s decision to serve
homeless people at an inner-city shelter.
Based on a
true story, the couple in the film (Ron and Debbie Hall) meet a homeless black
man, nicknamed “Suicide.” True to his moniker, with ball bat in hand he appears
a dangerous individual, but the husband and wife attempt to befriend him
nonetheless.
One evening
Ron invites the man, whose real name is Denver Moore, to dinner. Over the meal,
Denver weighs whether he wants to be Ron’s friend. He observes, “You white folk
do something you call ‘catch and release,’” acknowledging the practice seems curious
to him. Growing up as an orphan and raised by poor relatives working as
sharecroppers, Denver recalls times he went fishing with his brother. When they
would catch a fish, the last thing they wanted to do was let it go.
Then he
asks Ron if that’s what he intends to do if they become friends. Would Denver
become a hobby of sorts for a time, then released when something else comes
along to catch Ron’s attention?
This is a
profound question, particularly when serving others in the name of Jesus Christ.
It’s easy to make a brief foray into ministry, whether it’s working with
children, doing a project for an elderly person, discipling a younger believer,
mentoring someone, or even a short-term mission trip. We feel good about our deeds,
but then we “catch and release,” moving onto something that seems more
interesting.
A friend
calls this “mercy tourism.” We spend a little time with people, maybe talking
with them about Jesus or performing some benevolent acts, and then we leave,
never to return. It’s not to say this is wrong, but most of the time long-term
effects of our service are minimal. People are still poor, still homeless,
still living in desperate circumstances after we retreat to our comfortable
lives.
Real, transformational
spiritual impact in the lives of others requires more than a cameo appearance. Perhaps
that’s why the book of Proverbs offers several admonitions about true
friendship. For instance, it states, “A
friend loves for all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Proverbs
17:17). No bailing when the going turns tough.
Another
verse, Proverbs 27:10, states, “Do
not forsake your friend or a friend of your family… better a neighbor nearby
than a relative far away.” Proverbs
18:24 adds, “One who has unreliable
friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a
brother.”
Throughout
the Scriptures we see examples of enduring, devoted friendships – David and
Jonathan; Barnabas and Saul/Paul; Paul and Timothy; and of course, Jesus and
His closest disciples. Even with fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James and John, the
Lord never demonstrated a “catch and release” mindset.
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