Are You an Aquarium or Deep-Sea Fish?

Kudos to Alan Hirsch for this metaphor from the fish kingdom in his book The Forgotten Ways. Aquarium fish have it made. They can swim, breed, and obtain food without having to lift a fin. They also have the luxury of being protected from predators. But this cush life does have its downside—aquarium fish are notorious for being excruciatingly sensitive to the slightest disturbances in the fishbowl.

These fish are high maintenance and temperamental—basically the Kardashians of the fish world. Aquarium fish need the aquarium keeper to regularly clean the tank, change the water, feed them, check the temperature, and watch the pH. Aquarium fish freak out when everything isn’t just so.

However, life as a deep-sea fish is much trickier and less glamorous.

Deep-sea fish are more MacGyver, than Kardashian in fishdom.
They live in a natural ecosystem. They have to work harder to sustain themselves.
They’re subject to more threats and danger.

But this exposure to the elements out in the wild teaches deep-sea fish how to cope with variation in the real world—changing water temperature, scarcity of food, predators, etc. As a result, deep sea fish are more robust when faced with challenges—they can adapt to the changes in their environment and thrive.

We humans are a lot like aquarium fish.
We prefer to be sheltered from danger.
We like to have disturbances kept to a minimum.
We want to avoid pain and enjoy our happiness and creature comforts.

Our natural default is to see church or even society as our fish bowl that’s safe, stable, well-maintained, and insulated. It’s tempting to think that we’re doing a favor to our children or disciples of Jesus by ever nervously following after them, sheltering them from any form of risk or ideas that might unsettle them.

Immanuel, I want to be a deep-sea fish.
I may want to be a wild cod fish,
but I never want to coddle my kids or Christians.

The Spirit comforts us, but never coddles us.

The good news is that Jesus has a different plan for us than merely being our divine aquarium keeper. He’s calling us out of our comfort zones and out into the wild to follow him in his mission in the world.

Being a Jesus-follower is more deep-sea faith than aquarium faith.

Immanuel, let’s swim away from the Sirens of stability, certainty, and the status quo.
What do you say we go against the current, against the flow?
Let’s leave the “shallow shallow shallow end” and swim for the deep end.
Let’s give our spiritual sea legs a work out.

When we venture out into the troubled waters (rather than just the still waters), we’re opened up to change, adaptation, innovation, growth, and much deeper faith.

In the words of Alan Roxburgh, the Spirit of God in these new waters “calls forth and unleashes the missional imagination of the people of God.”

In what ways is God wanting to transport you with a heavenly fish net from the aquarium tank and plop you into the deep sea?

In what ways is the Spirit beckoning Immanuel out of the shallow end and to be more and more of a deep-end and deep-sea church?

When others see our faith in action, may they say we’re doing just swimmingly, my fellow fishers of people!

And may we all be the Messiah’s holy macerals, Immanuel!

Pastor John
Jots and Tittles Blog
Immanuel Presbyterian Church
john@immanuelpc.org