The Deadliest Catch

It was a birthday celebration so there was lots of food, drinks, and fun for everyone. Best of all the menu included all types of seafood (my second favorite food group, right behind desserts) so I ordered the steamed clams. When my bucket of sea plunder came I immediately dug in, cracking open clam after clam. I was wolfing them down like there was an endless supply, and no tomorrow, but about halfway through the bucket I ate one that tasted a bit nasty. I paused for a second to consider spitting it out and then I thought naw, that would be rude, so I simply sucked it down and took a big ol' sip of brew. I went right back to swallowing the steamed clams until the bucket was completely empty. Looking around like a cat that just swallowed a bird, I remember thinking I would be satisfied laying down in the corner of the restaurant and taking a nap while awaiting the cake with the candles to get there.

Home again I went straight off to bed, but two hours later I could be found sitting on the toilet with a small bathroom trashcan in my hands. Steam clams and birthday cake were violently coming out of both ends of me. I sat there for nearly six hours (this is not an exaggeration) before I was able to get my clothes on and make it down to the emergency room. In the process I had lost nearly eight pounds since dinner and now my body was empty of everything but a terrible pain. The obvious diagnosis was food-poisoning from the bad clams. The treatment plan included three more days of hospital stay until the folks that were trained to handle such things could get the yuk out of my system and the good stuff to stay in. Sixteen pounds lighter I left a weakened, but cleaner body than when I walked through their door.

Though I admit I would really love to lose sixteen pounds over the next three days I don't want to go through another food-poisoning situation like the one I went through in the late 1980s.

A few years back I was visiting the home of a friend who worked for the local cable company. As a "perk" from his employment he and his family received free-of-charge every channel known to exist on cable television. He convinced me to stick around and watch a recorded episode of the first season of the show “The Deadliest Catch” and that was when (excuse the pun) I got hooked on the show. We sat on the sofa rest the night watching episode after episode and with each one I became more and more intrigued. Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. The characters and the drama on that show is so much more appealing than the number of king crab they drag in – isn't it?

Anyway, I got addicted to the show and have been a fan every since – though Dale and I haven't watched much of this new season, we'll get caught up with the rest of you over the next couple of months I suspect. It's funny to listen to fans of the show and hear as to who their favorite ship captain is and why. It varies as much as the choices of favorite NASCAR driver here in the south and if you don't have a clue as to what the heck I'm talking about – good for you. Your life is not lessened one bit by the lack of knowledge of either. But, if you do watch The Deadliest Catch show you know what I'm referring to when I talk of the differences in captain's styles of managing the boat's crew and their strategy to locate the mother-load of catches.

Some of the captains are low-key and very methodical in their decisions as to where they will invest their fishing time, and then others seem to be on the edge of a mental breakdown at all times. There are those that are quick to change strategies, and those that are ruthless commanders of their vessels. There are captains that seek advice, and there are those that ingest anything and everything into their bodies in order to stay awake 24/7 to keep control over everything and everybody. So much of real life can be seen in these few individuals that it's utterly appealing for me to watch and analyze.

With each new season there comes scenes of tragedy, despair and / or loss of life – thus the title “The Deadliest Catch.” It's the most hazardous industry (as far as the number of fatalities to workers is concerned) there is. The behavior that comes from the understanding the risks involved with their profession coupled with their desire to make as much money as possible in a two week period of time really ratchets up the ol' drama-meter. The lack of a sense of urgency about their work never seems to be at issue here as it does in so many other industries. These fellers seem to always be flat out getting-it while at sea, and as I said earlier, it can be addictive to watch this show - so be careful.

I think in some ways living the life of a true disciple of Christ could be just as hazardous of a career as the crab fishermen if we chose to go about it that way. Jesus became the first fatality statistic of this profession and moreover he called his followers to set aside their lives as well. Though he wasn't suggesting that anyone else join him in sacrificing their life to cover mankind's sin problem, he did say on several occasions that we need to be willing to lay down our own lives for a much greater cause.

Yet, have you ever noticed how some folks carry around this idea of being a martyr much more flamboyantly than maybe what Jesus had in mind here? You ever run across people that are maybe a little too willing to let you, and everyone else around them know just how much sacrificing they do on behalf of their family and friends or even for God's kingdom? Boy, I sure seem to run into a few of these self-promoting do-gooders every now and then.

I believe the end results of our life will determine just how deadly a catch we've become. It'll show if we've sought man's approval and praise, or if we saw God as our only audience member. It'll demonstrate whether we've given up our desires for treasure in this life in exchange for storing up crowns in the next? And it'll most certainly show if we've chosen a humble and encouraging way to deliver the message of the Good News, or if we've gone about our so-called ministries beating folks up with the Bible,or (more often than not) with our own opinion of how they should live their lives? It most certainly can become a deadliest catch scenario if we let it.

I often see Christianity today just as it was in yesteryear, like a bucket full of really good steamed clams, but it only takes one bad one to make a mess in the hallway leading from the bedroom to the bathroom in the middle of the night. For me anyway, so often the “bad ones” look alot like self-promoting, egotistical, self-righteous martyrs that tell all the world (saved and unsaved) just how much they do for the world. They proudly promote the fact they give much more money than everyone else in the church. They shout from the roof tops about the hours and hours of time they spend in prayer for others, and most of all they're never satisfied until they've spent time trying to fool everyone into thinking just how little credit or appreciation they want in return for their "uncommon" way of sacrificing.

La-t-da, somebody bake 'em a cake so we can celebrate their lives a little more....

I guess we've all worked around or served with folks over the years that never seem to find anything positive to say about anyone else out of fear that it'll somehow elevate someone up a little closer to their own level of self-proclaimed greatness.

I believe though that never is a man seen smaller than when he towers above those around him that he has belittled.

I think fear and an unhealthy perspective of one's self-importance can make someone look pretty unappealing, yet an attitude of encouragement and humbleness shines like a radiant light into a darkened world. I strive for the latter to be my calling card, but admittedly struggle with the former at times as well.

Now let me climb down off my soapbox and get back to The Deadliest Catch show for just a minute.

I would suggest this to be true (don't know for a fact, but I suspect it is) that when each of the captains of these featured vessels began their career there was never a thought that someday they would become some kind of “B-level” international celebrity. They simply went about choosing a way of earning a living for themselves and their family. After years and years of hard work for most of these guys they now find themselves being criticized, scrutinized, second-guessed, and over-evaluated to no end every week by millions of viewers that don't even come close to having what it takes to do the job of captaining a ship full of crab pods and minced bait fish in the mist of all the dangerous weather and elements.

I guess the same can be said with so many other professions and situations as well, including most pastors and baseball managers - folks that simply go about doing the best they can for all the right reasons. I believe the last thing we need in this world is another critic, another self-promoter, or another martyr with the wrong motivation. Just possibly we simply need a few more encouragers, and a few more people that are willing to sacrifice themselves for others without all the fanfare. And yes, just maybe we even need a few more folks that truly understand that to be a real Christian means to live their life in a way that actually mimics the life and characteristics of Christ himself.

Jesus talks about this on several occasions drawing into focus the difference between a right way to pray, offering up gifts, and how to live out the life of a disciple versus the ways that so many were already sick of some two thousand years ago. See, being a bad captain of a fishing vessel is a lot like being a bad clam, or a bad example of Christ, or a bad anything else. I believe the last thing any of us really want or need (especially those that are still struggling to find out exactly who Jesus Christ is in their lives) is the taste of a yucky, parasite carrying, infection-causing clam in this sometimes smelly bucket we call Life.

I for one will personally work on this area of my life again this week. I for one will pray that God helps lead me into a way of living that delivers me from falling into the many traps of my own accord. I for one want to become known as an encourager, yet also as an unknown selfless giver. I for one need to begin today loving, living, and praying with the sense of urgency of a king crab fisherman. And I for one, want to always remember the potential hazards of becoming one of the many deadliest catches of this world when my heart and actions doesn't line up with the examples Jesus himself gave us. Doug