A Fishy Tale About Unity

Thoughts from Michelle Bowen

Imagine you’re in Corinth in 45 AD and you need to request some modern-day essentials. Do they exist there? Can you explain your way into trouble? How much freedom do you really have there? 

“You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich.” -1 Corinthians 4:8a

Let’s splash on over to the Parthenon. You want fishing gear. Will you find it there, or will you be sent elsewhere? Where do you go? Who can meet your needs?

In First Corinthians chapters three and four, Paul tells us about the foundation that Christ laid for us. If anyone tries to add to this foundation, they will suffer loss. Is the foundation like the Parthenon, ravaged by the ages, or is it you and me swimming the channel of faith? 

“…if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?” -1 Corinthians 4:7

This all puts me in mind of some of those cheesy old black and white budget films. Westerns, Fairytales, and Aliens always seemed to want the same thing…“Take me to your leader.” Traditions and leaders seem to hold a vast amount of sway throughout history. Do they have what you need?

“You have begun to reign in God’s kingdom without us! I wish you really were reigning already, for then we would be reigning with you.” -1 Corinthians 4:8b

One of my favorite books growing up was Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. Many of you know it or have seen a rendition of it. It’s been popular since 1904. It even made several box office smash hits through the years including its release by Disney in 1953, and I saw it on the big screen for the first time in 1976. The story is pure fantasy you understand, but it is hooked in, with so many cultural references. At one point, on the pirate island, Captain Hook is captured, and the kids call him a “codfish.” 

“A codfish, a codfish”, yes Captain Hook, the evil bullying pirate, is reduced to shame and name calling by children. Now, name calling as well as bullying are terrible hurtful things, that can wedge into innocent minds and cause years of pain; I don’t diminish that. Yet, in this story in the 1970’s the “codfish” had some huge impacts, big enough to make it into everyday life, books, and movies.

A good friend asked me this week why, fish on Friday’s and fish on Lint. It makes no sense, she said, fish is meat too.

Like most people, I know the tradition, but its explanation like many old traditions is spread across hundreds of years. Anyone who knows me, knows my favorite question and learning point, is “why?” 

The simple answer is that fish is a cold-blooded leg-less creature. In biblical times, you could not redeem yourself or your family with fish like you could with birds, or specific warm-blooded animals. Things that crawl on their belly or eat other warm-blooded things were not clean animals to eat, so the cultures close to bodies of water ate fish; a lot of fish. Fish was the easy poor man’s friend. Dried, baked, boiled, whole, strips, jerky, or filleted; fish filled the need. With a little tackle you could eat.

Now for the rest of the story. Yes, Paul Harvey would be proud. Who is Paul Harvey, you ask? I feel old to think an entire two generations might not know Paul Harvey, but that’s why Google is handy for celebrity identification. 

So how did fish get mixed up in religion? The culture of the first century Jesus movement had a symbol. Yep, a fish. Fishers of men. In towns where to identify as a Christian was to be hated, this symbol would pop up. Like code, one person could draw the underside of the fish and the other person in need could draw the top part to complete the code. Well, that fish symbol gave credit that some safety and trust could be found in that home. The fish became the Christian symbol.

Ok, so the original question; “why fish on Friday?” Part of this springs from the Old Testament view on fish. More comes in when we look at commercial type net fishing done probably by generations before. But the spotlight here is on Jesus. His first four disciples were fishermen. The debt Peter owed was paid by fish at the command of Jesus. One of Jesus’ recorded miracles was the loaves and fishes to feed 5,000. And in tradition, the specific fish involved was cod. Cod, which bears spots, again by tradition, which are told to be Jesus’ thumb and fingerprints from the miracles.

“For the kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk, it is living by God’s power.” -1 Corinthians 4:20

Wow, that’s a lot of fish stories. Yes, it is and down many hundred years later with many other kings and countries and religions placing their spin on things, fish or as Barrie in 1904 and Disney in 1953 made famous, “codfish”, became the specific species “allowed” on Fridays.

In 1904, “codfish” was a large insult because of political and religious arguments. The cleanest version I can say here, is that to be a codfish, meant you were a cheap, smelly, dried out, and unpleasant sort. Cod markets were making money from the masses in the religious observance of, yep you guessed it, Fish on Fridays. McDonald’s by 1965 was pulling in fish burger sales on Fridays, and every school in America served codfish on Fridays. Who needed tackle when you can reign with fish-filet. 

“But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our Lord.” -1 Corinthians 2:8

The religious tradition of codfish on Fridays was to honor fasting of warm-blooded meat, which has biblical roots all the way back to the Old Testament. 

The observation of fish on Friday is as muddled as the tale of a fisherman’s catch or his latest trip to Bass Pro. 

In 45 AD, Paul was trying to teach the people of Corinth the wisdom of Jesus, not the wisdom of the world, in spite of all the traditional and cultural practices that were at the root of all the confusion. The why’s are important. Why do you do a thing? Why do you choose the things you do every week, and how hard is it to change? Try getting a fisherman to use new tackle. 

As we study our way through First Corinthians, it becomes obvious that Corinth (a whale of a tale seaport) had more division than a fifth-grade math sheet. 

“Do Not Be Divided” then, became the need. Jesus is not divided into many different parts. Jesus gave his whole self. His selfless act saved the world from its selfishness. 

In class Wednesday night, I shared the words, “do not be divided,” in several languages: 

לא להתחלק - Hebrew 

Do Not Be Divided - English 

non dividi - Latin

ဝေခွဲမရပါ။ - Burmese 

No seas dividida - Spanish

не разделяйся - Russian

分割しないでください - Japanese 

μην διαιρεθείτε - Greek

Jesus isn’t split between us. Jesus isn’t in a codfish. Jesus is our redeemer, our one and only sacrifice for all time. He is our foundation. 

Why Fish on Fridays? Well, it’s a fasting tradition to show the world. It’s to follow a religious teaching tied to clean animals, and a food used as a corporate fast to show unity without division. Does your salvation hinge on it? No. Your salvation is held in your heart, not in your diet as Peter had to learn in Acts chapter 10:11-16. And, as Paul had to clarify in his letters to the churches about traditional cultures and human judgements.

Let me just say, at our house, we like fish and history. And this study has been brought to you by a Friday dinner of Gordon Cod fish fillets, and a movie of Jim Barrie’s “Peter Pan”. 

Have a great week!

Michelle Bowen