How to explain "fishers of men" to a 4-year-old?

[EnviroBecca]

EnviroKid has been very interested in the story of Jesus since before he turned 3. I have told him the story many times (hitting all the important points and throwing in whatever details come to mind each time) and one of those times I told about Jesus saying, "I will make you fishers of men," and he wanted to know what that meant. I tried to explain but could tell he really didn't get it. I figured I'd just leave that line out of the story until he is old enough to understand metaphors better.

Well, now he wants to hear the REAL story of Jesus direct from the Bible. I read him the entire Gospel of Matthew, and we're now into Mark and just came to "fishers of men" last night. Both then and in Matthew, he asked about it and did not seem satisfied with my explanation.

What would YOU say? And in general, how would you explain the fact that Jesus spoke in parables so much? EnviroKid is not satisfied with Jesus' explanation to the disciples of why he speaks parables to the public, and frankly I don't quite get it either!

I'm very pleased with my little Christian, but sometimes I feel he's reaching too far! I remember as a kid, being able to read far above my "level" and sometimes encountering things that I could read but couldn't understand. I don't think it did me any harm, but it sure was perplexing!

[sbrinton]

I have a four year old who is very curious and asks GREAT questions too. Somtimes I'm stumped! Alot of our son's questions lately have been about why some people are not Christians. In a very childlike way, he cannot understand why people wouldn't love Jesus.

Remember to pray to ask the Holy Spirit to give you and your son wisdom and understanding. I'm thinking of Ephesians 1:18 - or really the whole first chapter of Ephesians. There are plenty of things that can be confusing in the Bible, but what is most important is that your son would know the hope God has called him to.

Jesus uses a lot of different parables to describe seeking the lost - prodigal son, shepherd looking for lost shep, lost coin, harvest, etc. Maybe it would help if you look at several parables side by side so that your son can see how God uses lots of stories to communicate with us. You could also share some of your own story, about how you were lost before Jesus found you.

[zech13_9_goforgold]

Being a "fisher of men" is more of a saying than a parable. It's kind of like saying "kick the bucket" for death, or "cute as a button" for adorableness. Granted, four-year-olds aren't that great at sayings and phrases. They tend to be really literal. But, I would probably still try to explain euphemisms to him, since that is what "fishers of men" is. As for the explanation, I would tell him that Jesus was giving Peter and the other guys a new job. They used to be fishers of fish, but now they were to be fishers of men. They used to use nets and bait to catch fish, but now they'll use love and generosity to convert men. Jesus was calling them to a new lifestyle, and he used kind of a play on words to describe that change.

Hope that helps (and makes sense).

[EnviroBecca]

They used to be fishers of fish, but now they were to be fishers of men. They used to use nets and bait to catch fish, but now they'll use love and generosity to convert men.

See, this is pretty much exactly what I said, but he didn't get it.

I told him about a religion lesson from the one year I went to Catholic school, in first grade: My teacher took us out on the playground and taught a song about how one elephant went out to play and had such fun, she called for another elephant to come. Then there were two elephants playing, and they called another elephant, and so on until the whole class was being elephants. Afterward she said that being Christians is like this; you don't just enjoy it for yourself but call others to share the joy with you. EnviroKid understood that. But then when I said, "Fishers of men catch people to be Christians like those elephants call people to be Christians," he looked at me like I was insane. "Remember the elephants? They had such enormous fun?" "Yes, but that is not fishing!" "I know! It's just a way of saying it!" "...Read the story!"

I guess it's something about fishing, specifically, that he takes too literally.

[Thalia the Muse]

You know, reading that second post, I wonder if he finds the idea disturbing? Fisherman catch and kill the fish against their will and eat them, after all. Maybe he's drawing the wrong parallels with the metaphor?

[father_knows_best]

Originally Posted by Thalia the Muse

You know, reading that second post, I wonder if he finds the idea disturbing? Fisherman catch and kill the fish against their will and eat them, after all. Maybe he's drawing the wrong parallels with the metaphor?

I would agree, might be good to point out to the child that Jesus is saving people with a net as a fisherman might take fish from the water. Since people should not stay in the water too long and are usually happier in a boat jesus is helping them get to the safety of a boat.
It great to watch minds grow and explore...

[EnviroBecca]

Maybe that's it. Seems like the fishing metaphor in the Gospels is used much like the agricultural metaphors about bringing in a harvest, producing fruit, etc. (which EnviroKid has understood pretty well) but to those of us who've never been involved in large-scale fishing, it seems kind of different: Fish can move and have eyes and generally are more like us than figs or wheat, so when we think of pulling fish out of the water with a net, we think of taking somebodies from their home and killing them. Of course, following Jesus did mean leaving home and "dying" to your old life to be reborn...but in a more voluntary way. I think the people of the time (and probably large-scale fishers today) thought of fishing as more of a harvesting of food. We do eat fish in our family, but EnviroKid has expressed some qualms about the fact that their free swimming was ended to make our food.

So maybe I should focus on the idea of getting out of the water as a positive thing for people (whereas it isn't for fish, so becoming fishers of men is an improvement) and the net as a way of drawing people together.

[Thalia the Muse]

Yeah, i would talk about how the disciples are "gathering" followers, not "catching" them. It's not that they are drowning in the water, so much, as they are getting brought together and taken into enlightenment, or however you want to phrase it.

Little kids are very literal-minded!

[father_knows_best]

Yeah my mom says i was just like that with loving the bible stories, this is the fun stuff though, wait till you have a 10yo kid like i was asking the grandparents on Christmas eve why Jesus has the same birthday and similar life story to other gods like Horus, Osirus, Zoroaster and Mithra. My poor old RC mother nearly had and stroke next to the Christmas tree. My parents regretted my encyclopedia set since that day.(-: I suggest prepping up for the bigger question..theyr'e coming and are great starting points for real bonding conversations.... my parents wish they had for sure. :