In Matthew 1:16-20 Jesus approaches a group of commercial fishermen, who are casting their nets, and offers to change their occupation from being catchers of fish to being fishers of men. I live in a fishing village called Sambro and some of my neighbours are commercial fishermen. They do not fish as a pastime; they fish to survive. They are out in all sorts of weather and to be successful they need to develop a deep and intuitive knowledge of the environment they are working in for, in fishing, the real action is happening far below their surface awareness of things.
The book of the prophet Habakkuk talks about the Babylonians, who had been casting their cultural nets to try and capture the hearts and minds of the Israelites in order to drag them into a soul-destroying servitude. Habakkuk points out that Babylonian fishermen engage in a liturgy where they literally worship their nets, as the gods, who provided for their needs, so his net metaphor has spiritual overtones. What was puzzling to him was that the Israelites were willing accomplices in their own destruction because they had allowed themselves to become entangled in the pagan lifestyle.
Ancient pagan warriors sometimes used a net, as their weapon of choice. To be caught in one of those nets was the prelude to your eventual death. However, to be caught in the net that Jesus casts is the prelude to your abundant life.
In the gill net fishery the mesh size is all important. If it's too liberal, the fish just swim though the net and if it is too conservative, the fish never penetrate the net far enough to get caught. To be an efficient fisherman you need to know what species you are fishing for and have the proper gear. The secular post-modern culture warriors, the modern Babylonians, are using a mesh configuration specifically designed to entrap idealistic younger people. There is fierce competition, out on the spiritual fishing grounds.
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