Dr. Roy Fish “Well Done”

I have had several professors to be of great influence in my spiritual development. One of the most influential was Dr. Roy Fish, who passed away Monday night.

He was Distinguished Professor of Evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, I know of no one who was more distinguished or passionate for evangelism than Dr. Fish.

And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 

-Matthew 25:20-21

The man in this parable was given something, and he used it for his master’s glory, so too, Dr. Fish was given the ability to draw people in and communicate to them the gospel. Not only this, his greatest ability was to teach Believers how to share the faith with grace and love.

Any one who had Dr. Fish for a class, I had him for Contemporary Evangelism, could probably tell you that he was a great speaker and made his lectures interesting. He inspired his students, but this lead to into a false sense of security that you became keenly aware of when the examination rolled around. “How could this kind man grade so hard!” But it was always worth it. “Go as far as you can in school” I remember him telling me… and so I am. I’m sure this is the case for many of us.

I wanted to take Dr. Fish because my dad had him for class some 30+ years ago. Dr. Fish is a generational teacher, he was a gentleman and a scholar. He duplicated himself over and over, investing his life in his students. In this way he used the gifts God gave him for his master’s glory! He surely brought a great return on the Lord’s investment.

If anyone will hear these words, it will be Dr. Roy Fish: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”