Los Angeles herald., 1907-03-11
FISHING FOR MEN
IS PASTORS TOPIC
Rev. c. Q. Pierce Of the Memorial
Baptist Church Calls II the
Greatest Occupation in
the World

Fishing for Men the Greatest Oc-
cupation in the World" was the topic
last evening of Rev. G. G. Pierce, pastor
of the memorial Baptist church, who
preached a sermon preparatory to the
coming series Of evangelistic meetings
to be held in that church.
He took for his text the words Of
Jesus to his disciples, "Follow me. and
viii make you fishers of men," Dur
ing the course of his sermon he said:
There is a good deal of difference
between fishing for recreation and fish
| ing as regular occupation. When
Jesus called four men, fishermen, to
leave their fishing that he might lead
them in the great work Of catching
men, he called them from their daily
work, from the thing whereby they
gained their livelihood, and called them
to what was to be the serious business
of their lives. The real work to which
he called them was that of bringing
mon to lead the true life. Into this work
they were to bring all their strength,
all their powers, all their time.
This was to become the serious
business of their lives. From that time
on this was to be the one thing which
should claim their lives. This work to
which he called these fishermen is to be
the work of every disciple. 1t should
be the serious business of every true
life. This work is not to become the
mere teaching of some stilted theologi-
cal system, it is not to be the repetition
of certain prescribed formulas, assent
to which is supposed to constitute
a title to the realms beyond the pearly
gates but 1t Is the complete devotion
of the lives of all of those who profess
to be the followers of the Carpenter of
Nazareth, to the establishment of his
truth and his life among men here In
this world.
"Alas. how far it would seem have
we wandered from this ideal. We have
committed this work to a special few
and created a special class who are
supposed to know more about this than
others. We have taken the simple,
beautiful, loving, life-giving and un-
selfish teachings of the greatest master
Of life the world has ever seen and we
have been so intent on studying some
ones Interpretation of them that we
have forgotten to apply them to the
only thing that needs them, and that is
our own lives and the lives about us.
"Then, too, we have made of this
matter a sort of holiday excursion,
something that belongs to the church
building and the cloister and the pray
er meeting and the Sunday concert and
lecture, rather than making the center
of the whole thing the daily life. The
to become the regular. the serious, the
laborious business of our lives If we
follow Jesus we will follow him to
where the people are and to where those
are who need our help. If we do as
Jesus would do we should be found in
great many places where we seldom
go now, and a great many places where
so-called Christians spend the most of
| their time would be deserted so far as
we are concerned.
"The simple fact is that there Is no
! hour of the day and no place where
any man ought to be, where true fol-
| lower of the Christ may not be an act
! i've power for him and for the extern
sion of his kingdom. He came to make
life more ideal. He came to give US
that which may be applied to every de-
tail of our earthly careers, and this
idea that religion is something befitting
certain places and times, that we are
to put it bn as we would Sunday suit
of clothes, that it is something which
has to do with some other realm
great deal more than it has 10 do with
this world in which we live. is all
wrong.
GAS the one who fishes for living
ofttimes takes his life in his hands.
endures all sorts of privations, tolls
at all hours and ever is on the watch
to secure that which he seeks, so he
who follows Christ in this greatest and
best occupation In the world will find
it no recreation, the conditions of which
are satisfied by some idle assent to
some plausible theory or doctrine, but
a serious business which demands all
the nerve. all the strength and all the
energy which can be summoned.
"The need for more fishers like this
lies all about us. We have but begun
the upward march of civilization. We
are still in the shadow. We still waste
our time over that which is utterly
useless We are busy with many things
utterly unworthy the attention of true
men and women, but, thank God, the
tendency of mankind is upward and
the day is dawning out of the black
night of the past when human life will
be glorified by the teachings of the
great Leader, applied to every detail
and nhasa of our daily careers.n y