Augusta, GA
By Al Gray
The morning
in late May had turned sultry early on the Florida fresh water sea.
Panfishermen from across the Southeast descend on Lake George hoping to catch
giant bluegills and shellcrackers on enormous beds during the magical few days
in May that see the fish in a feeding frenzy. Alas, on this day your humble
scribe was sitting in a boat on calm, listless waters surrounded by 60 other
boats. Burgeoning heat had the cattle on the distant shore inching toward the
water to join those who had braved alligators to go wading.
The
fishermen were mostly bored as none were catching fish. Everyone was using
standard rods and reels loaded with 10 pound test line. Switching to an
ultralight rod, I decided to rework a shell ridge that had been fruitless for
the last hour. The fish started biting. The catch began to pile up. The other
59 boats circled, getting closer, but nobody else was catching anything. Eventually, about time the catch limit was
reached, there were boats on top of the shell ridge, with one only 12 feet away,
so casting was no longer possible!
On another
boat far away in time and space, casting again in “fished-out” waters made for
a similar bounty. The
story is found in Luke 5:4-10
4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put
out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”5 Simon
answered and said, “ Master, we worked hard all night and caught
nothing, but [a]I will do as You say and let
down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, they
enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to
break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the
other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the
boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon
Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ [b]feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for
I am a sinful man!” 9 For amazement had seized him
and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and
so also were [c]James and John, sons of Zebedee, who
were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “ Do not fear,
from now on you will be catching men.”
This fishing
trip happened at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. From that point on, Simon Peter
witnessed a wondrous array of miracles, healings, parables, and teaching the
way to salvation and eternal life. Mankind being as sinful as it is, none of
these things mattered when tough times came near the end, when politicians,
zealots, and even masses of people turned against Jesus. Ponder the words of Simon
Peter “Go away from me Lord, for I am a
sinful man!”
Let’s ponder
that statement a minute. Simon Peter was acknowledging that his ways were the
sinful ways of the world. He would follow Jesus every step of the way through
His ministry, yet he remained captive to his position in society to the very
end. Today this phenomenon is known as cognitive
dissonance which is defined as anxiety that
results from simultaneously holding contradictory or otherwise incompatible
attitudes, beliefs, or the like.
Human nature
being as it is, the person with cognitive dissonance typically reverts or seeks
that which is familiar, socially acceptable, and less uncomfortable at moments
of stress. Today it is often seen in our responses to the current, ongoing
financial and economic collapse – a total certainty – which is generally wishing
it away, while refusing to take action to save ourselves. We want our cushy,
old lives back. Indeed, in Greece there have been bank runs in recent weeks to
the tune of $500 million, inexplicably delayed two whole years
after the first bond defaults signaled to the people there that their deposits
were not safe. Examples of calamitous delays in reacting to negative events
appear throughout human history. The cognitive dissonance that gripped Peter
was so powerful that he
denied Jesus three times before people Peter perceived to be hostile to Jesus.
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard,
and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the
Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before
them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” 71 When
he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him
and *said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And
again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” 73 A
little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of
them; for even the way you talk [a]gives you away.” 74 Then
he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster
crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word which
Jesus had said, “ Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three
times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
That is how
powerful cognitive dissonance is. Peter had witnessed miracles by Jesus, yet
the apparent inability of Jesus to save himself from arrest and persecution
cast enough doubt that Peter’s weak human self readily defaulted to disavowing
Jesus!
Only the
resurrection and seeing the living Jesus broke the hold of evil human society
and politics on Peter. The
transformation came during another fishing trip.
After these things Jesus [a] manifested Himself again to
the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifestedHimself in
this way. 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called [b]Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana
in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of
His disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter *said to
them, “I am going fishing.” They *said to him, “We will also come with you.”
They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach;
yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 So
Jesus *said to them, “Children, you do not have [c]any fish, do you?” They answered
Him, “No.” 6 And He said to them,“ Cast the
net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So
they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great
number of fish. 7 Therefore that disciple
whom Jesus loved *said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard
that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for
work), and threw himself into the sea. 8 But
the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the
land, but about [d]one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of
fish…..
So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to
Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you [f] love Me more than these?” He
*said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I [g]love You.” He *said to him, “Tend My
lambs.” 16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of
John, do you [h]love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes,
Lord; You know that I [i]love You.” He *said to him, “ Shepherd
My sheep.” 17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of
John, do you [j]love Me?” Peter was grieved because
He said to him the third time, “Do you [k]love Me?” And he said to Him,
“Lord, You know all things; You know that I [l]love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend
My sheep.
18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used
to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will
stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you
do not wish to go.” 19 Now this He said, signifying
by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this,
He *said to him, “Follow Me!”
Peter
followed Jesus. He overcame his cognitive dissonance in the most complete way
possible by embracing death to gain salvation through faith in a resurrected
Jesus Christ.
That day in balmy
Florida when this fisherman cast aside the ways of the entire fleet to embrace
an unlikely technique that produced a bountiful catch wasn’t just like Peter in
that one respect. It was also fishing on the right side of the boat. If we go through life relying on the crowd and
defaulting to our weak tendency for conformity, we will go home empty handed
and hungry. It is only by breaking the bonds of sin, even embracing social
disdain, ostracism and punishment to the point of death, in embracing Jesus that we can ascend to
eternal life.
These are
transformative times, times in which those who are prepared for the worse must
step forward to preserve the best.
There is
only one side on which to be – the RIGHT side. We cannot afford to let denial
keep us from it. Christ put it simply.
