Pokemon Go Into All Nations

Luke 5:5-11 GNT One day Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret while the people pushed their way up to him to listen to the word of God. 2 He saw two boats pulled up on the beach; the fishermen had left them and were washing the nets. 3 Jesus got into one of the boats—it belonged to Simon—and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and taught the crowd. 4 When he finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Push the boat out further to the deep water, and you and your partners let down your nets for a catch.” 5 “Master,” Simon answered, “we worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 They let them down and caught such a large number of fish that the nets were about to break. 7 So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came and filled both boats so full of fish that the boats were about to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he fell on his knees before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord! I am a sinful man!” 9 He and the others with him were all amazed at the large number of fish they had caught. 10 The same was true of Simon's partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus said to Simon, “Don't be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” 11 They pulled the boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed Jesus.

Jesus went to the lake and made the most of the opportunity to share with these men. He connected with them on something they were familiar with, in this case fishing. He performed a miraculous sign related to fishing to get their attention, and called them to a new life of following him and evangelism with fishing language.

I went to Creve Coeur lake today to reach out and go for a walk. Of the 10 people I talked to 4 of them were playing Pokemon Go. To be fair that made it easier to approach them, because I had a way to strike up a conversation, but that is what I want to point out. Pokemon Go creates a unique situation that we as disciples can make the most of. It gets people outdoors. It creates a sense of connection with others who know about the game. This makes starting up a conversation with them easier. Colossians 4:5 "Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have."

Those of you that play the game are already ahead of the curve. You can share you experiences with them and build a bond. But you have to be thinking about it. Its easy to go play and not have a meaningful conversation with anyone. Don't let those opportunities slip by. Do some activity based evangelism. Grab a friend, go play, and reach out. You've have been catching Pokemon, from now on you will catch men. For those of you that aren't familiar with the game know that people are out in mass. If ya see someone walking around looking at their phone, ask if they are playing Pokemon. If so ask them if they've caught anything. Ask them about the game and how it works. By doing so you've already struck a conversation you can then make the most of for Christ.