The fish dancing at the end of the line was mean and bad-tempered.
As the video rolled, we watched in silent fascination as the fish kept changing its tactics in this life and death struggle. If it wasn’t tail walking, it was sounding to the depths. It used its body as a sail in the current, increasing its resistance. Then it would turn and head for the reed beds.
Every now and then, the camera would focus on the fisherman. The sweat pouring down his face as he fought the battle of a lifetime. The droplets of perspiration that he shook irritable from his brow, was nothing compared to the spray kicked up from the reel as the fish screamed off in yet another run.
Painstakingly, inch by inch, the fish was brought in closer. The constant even-handed pressure, exerted by the rod began to take its toll. After what seemed like ages, the angry hook jawed mass of colour slipped innocently into the net held out by the fisherman.
There was an almost audible sigh of relief from the board members and a few of them adjusted their seating position from the tensed forward lean that they had found themselves.
“Great battle, wasn’t it?” quipped Pastor Aloeham.
A silent snicker rippled through the church board.
“I suppose most of you, focused your attention on the fish. Actually the star of the story is a little piece of line that joins the fly line to the fly. We call this piece of line, a leader. The leader plays the most significant part in the whole process of fly fishing.
It has to be thin enough, that the fly is invisibly attached. If the fish was aware of the line, it wouldn’t take the fly. It also has to be strong enough not to break in the process of the contest. The leader will rub constantly against the side of the fish and occasionally against rocks and sticks that the fish will attempt to use to dislodge the fly from its mouth.
If you want to be a successful fly fisherman, you need to have a strong leader. You see, trophy fish demand strong leaders!” Pastor Aloeham paused to let the effects of his words sink in.
As I quickly glanced around me, I noticed more than a fair share of blank faces. Something like Jesus and the disciples, the allegory had passed right over their heads.
He to had noticed it. Taking a deep breath, he resumed.
“In the series we have been conducting in church, we have been looking at the role we have as ‘fishers of men.’ So as fishermen, we rely on strong leaders to keep us attached to the trophy fish we seek. Strong leaders equate to strong leadership.
At some stage or another, we have to look at the role we have as leaders within our church and within our community. Sometimes we are more than just fishermen, sometimes we are leaders to.
We cannot always expect the fisherman to go it alone. More often than not, without the correct leadership the fish will spy the line and ignore the offering, no matter how delectable it seems. The fish will remain suspicious if everything is not perfect. Yet even if it is perfect, a weak leader will result in trophy fish breaking off the fly and escaping. It is always more difficult the second time around. A once pricked trout is even more suspicious.
How does this apply to us you may be asking yourselves. And I’m glad you did.”
This time the chuckle was audible as it raced around the boardroom table.
“How did you get to be chosen to this office? For some of you it was because of the position you hold in society, for others it is your willingness and availability to work. For some it was because you were just so nice!
If you ask yourselves one question it can be why did you choose me to be your Pastor. I hope it was because you saw me as the best ‘Spiritual Leader’ that you could find. I hope it wasn’t because I was just a nice guy, or because my wife sings so sweetly, or because I was prepared to accept the salary you offered. I sincerely hope it was because you saw me as a dynamic spiritual leader.”
The looks on the faces told a story I didn’t think he would want to hear! Fortunately, Pastor Aloeham wasn’t watching the reaction to his words, he was busy shuffling through a container before him. Finding what he was looking for he looked up.
“This is what we are talking about!” He held up a length of fine fishing line. “A tapered leader! From one end to the other it slowly thins out. The thinnest end is the end that we attach to the fly. The strength of the leader is measured by the breaking strain of this the thinnest end.
The strength of our ‘Board’s’ leadership is measured by the strength of its thinnest section. It will not matter to anyone in our church how strong some of you are if we break at our weakest point. If we go out to support our congregation in their role of fishers of men, it will not matter that the majority of you are great leaders. We will be judged by the church at the point where our leader breaks and we start loosing fish.
It doesn’t matter if you appointed me as a dynamic spiritual leader, if I am sitting at one end of the line, yet the breaking strain of the other end is too weak to withstand the pressures of a sustained battle with a trophy trout.
What does matter, is that we understand that this ‘leader’ is connected. Each one of us is interlinked in a sequence of strengths from strongest to weakest. From thickest to thinnest. It doesn’t matter how stong or how thick the one end is. All we have to worry about is how thin and how weak the other end is. We cannot turn the leader around. We cannot put the strongest end closer to the fly and attach the weaker end to the fly line.
The stronger we make our weakest end will enable us to go out and catch bigger and better trophy fish. We will be able to move from catching the abused to catching the abusers; from catching the drug takers to catching the drug dealers; from targeting the man in the street to targeting the hard-nosed businessman who wields influence over thousands. Christ did not send us out to be fisher’s of men for babies and children. He sent us out to be fishermen targeting the worst the world has to dish up. The most hardened atheist, the most bitter and the most hard done by who have turned the world into their own precious selfish playground.
As fisherman we need to know how to fish, but critically we need to fish the best leaders we can attached to our fly line. We are in search of trophy fish and trophy fish demand strong leaders.”
The screen came alive for a second as the camera focused once again on the fly fisherman with his prize. He was holding up a gigantic salmon, bright red in its breeding attire. It was a grand prize indeed.
As the screen faded, pastor Aloeham picked up a piece of paper.
“Right, I suppose we can now proceed with the next item on our agenda; the election of leaders for our various committees. Firstly, do we have nominations for our ‘Party’ committee! They can start planning our celebrations for all the trophy fish we are going to catch.”
The chuckle around the boardroom table belied the fact that the message from our spiritual ‘leader’ had indeed found its place in the thoughts of those gathered there.
Would our leadership ever be the same I thought, trying to picture myself as that piece of line holding desperately on to the fly protruding from the meanest set of jaws I’d ever seen on a salmon.
