I was riding with a charter boat captain, and we had to make a one-hour run from the dock to the fishing grounds. As we went, we kept passing clusters of boats in the river. He raised his hand and said, “They are fishing memories.”

What in the world does that mean? He explained that, normally, at this time of year, given the water temperature, the fish would be in those locations, but they are not there. So people go out and fish those spots because they were successful years before, even though they are not catching anything now.

As a pastor, I could not help but think of the Church and the followers of Jesus who are called to be “Fishers of Men.” One struggle in the Church is that we keep running programs that were successful years ago, but the fish no longer respond. Christians can hold onto methods that are no longer productive because they worked years ago. In the end, we are fishing memories.

The challenge for a Church that wants to reach non-Christians with the gospel is to go where the fish are and use effective tactics. When what worked in the past stops working, it is time to move on and try something new. This is true whether we go out to catch dinner or to make an eternal difference.