Overcoming Fear

 In a couple of my online writing classes the author leading the class talks about overcoming fear. The fear that needs to be overcome is sharing the book with others. You begin to ask questions as you begin to share it. Does what I wrote suck? Is it worth reading? It is not a very humble act to say, "I have written a book and you need to read it." 

They're right, the struggle is real. It is almost embarrassing to mention that I have written a book. 

Here is how I am overcoming the fear. "I'd Rather Be Fishing," while I believe every church leader and Christian needs to live as a disciple maker, the process of writing a book enabled me to put into words a part of who I am and what I believe Jesus wants me to be. 

I my not be a charter captain in the Florida panhandle, but I can be someone who helps people know and become closer to Jesus. And I believe every believer can!

As I share some excerpts from the book to get some feed back, I do so out of a place of humility as someone overcoming fear. 

Here is the first excerpt:

While they are laughing one of Simon’s poles takes off. “Flip the bail!” Miguel yells. “When you feel the slightest tension give it three quick jerks to set the hook.” Simon follows the instructions of his new teacher. He has a fish on and this one is different than the redfish he caught a few weeks before. Miguel is coaching him as the fight between man and fish continues with great intensity. 

Simon is amazed at how much fight the fish has, it is like nothing he has ever hooked before. After fighting it for about 20 minutes and after a few runs with the reel screaming, the line goes slack. As quickly as the fight began it was now over. Simon had lost the fish. 

Miguel puts his hand on Simon’s shoulder because he can tell he feels defeated, “Sometimes there is nothing you can do. You do all the right things and for whatever reason the fish just comes off. Cherish the fight you had for twenty minutes, some people never get to experience what you just got to experience. You know why?”

Simon looks into Miguel’s eyes intently as his teacher begins to explain, “Patience. Most people are not patient enough to stay the course. They get distracted by other things. They give up to easy. Let’s get our lines back in the water, maybe you will get another chance.”

Dave shows up. They tell him about the fish Simon lost. They fish a little longer and then head to the restaurant to grab a bite to eat. They each get a beer as they are waiting for their food. 

Miguel asks, “So what did you do before you moved down here to learn to fish?”

“I was a pastor for the last 30 years,” Simon replies. 

Miguel and Dave get silent and pause. They have that look on their face that Simon has seen many times before when people had found out what he does. It is not a look of disappointment or shock. It is thinking back trying to remember if there were things they may have said or done that might have been offensive to a man of the cloth.

“I am sorry if I said anything to offend you over the last few weeks,” Dave replies. 

“You have never offended me with anything you said or did,” Simon responds. “Everyone always responds that way when they hear about me being a pastor.” 

“So why did you stop being a pastor?” Miguel asks.

“I was tired of running the machine,” he responds.

“The machine?” says Miguel. 

“The church,” he replied, “I got tired of running the church. There was all this pressure to get people to attend on Sunday morning. Then there was pressure to make sure the giving was high enough to pay for maintaining the building and supporting the programs that were going on. And you had to keep people happy so they would not leave and go to another church. People began to see it as a business rather than a gathering of people who were doing life together and encouraging one another through the difficulties of life.” 

The food comes in the middle of Simon’s explanation. He says, “I am sorry to bore you with all of that, it still fires me up to think about it.”

“No problem,” Miguel says as he takes a bite out of a french fry. “So what did you want to focus on if not the church?”

“Jesus,” he says, “it is all about Jesus. The goal is to challenge people to live more like Jesus tomorrow than they did today in every area of their life. It is not just about getting them to attend. This vision can happen in a church and there are churches that do it well. But most have lost their focus and get upset when you try to get them back on track.”

“Interesting,” Miguel responds.

“What’s Interesting?” Simon says. 

“Now you have become my teacher,” Miguel says, “I want to know more about this Jesus you are talking about. He sounds like a different Jesus than I have always heard about. You know, the one the church promotes, but does not always live like.”