Reflections From the Bank: Schools of Fish and Jesus-Followers

One of my favorite places is a particular spot on the bank of a canal that connects the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic.  Recently at this special place, I enjoyed watching a school of little fish right next to the bank.  As many times as I have witnessed a similar sight, I was still amazed by their cohesiveness.  It was fun to watch them glide and dart as a unit, then to watch them scatter in every direction when a water bug disturbed the surface nearby and immediately come back together.  It made me think about relationships among believers and what the body of Christ can learn from a school of fish.

My study began with finding out why fish swim in schools.  There are three main reasons for the schooling behavior of fish:

1.) To help keep them safe
2.) To find food
3.) To find a mate

I realized these are some of the same reasons we as believers should join together with other believers in a collective body.  We need each other.  We need to be unified- within our local assembly and within the Church as a whole.  Let's look to the scriptures to find out how the instinctive motivations of fish align with the spiritual benefits of being unified with other Jesus-Followers.

To Help Keep us Safe

I'm obviously not talking about physical safety as with fish, but when  believers are unified in a church family, it provides spiritual safety.  We are called to hold one another accountable.

The church family is our spiritual "school", and not only do we protect one another from straying, we can guide each other in the faith.

A little school of minnows illustrates a spiritual lesson.

- "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.  Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."  Galatians 6:1-2

- "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." James 5:19-20

The body of Christ should operate as a cohesive unit to help protect individual believers from spiritual danger.

To Find Food

Again, we are not speaking of physical things (although I have enjoyed many wonderful meals at church).  ​We join together with other believers to receive spiritual food; that is, sustenance that helps us grow in the faith. 

- "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Hebrews 10:25

- "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Colossians 3:16​

​We come together- teaching, preaching, and singing- to be fed spiritually. 

To Find a Mate

While perhaps not the most important reason, the third point still fits into our illustration.  The body of Christ is the only place a believer should look to find a spouse.   

- "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14

​In order for a marriage to be optimally successful, a man and woman must be aligned spiritually; in other words, part of the same "school". 

Final Thoughts

The unity of believers is a common subject in the New Testament.  1 Corinthians 1:10 says, "Now I beseech  you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment."  Think about how much we can accomplish when believers are in sync with one another, like that little school of fish! 

​In John 17:11, Jesus prayed: "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are."  Very simply, He wants us to be unified. 

Believers- join together and keep swimming!