What Was That Sower Doing?
“Behold, the sower went out to sow;” and some fell on the rocky soil, and some on the thorny soil, and some fell along the road, and some fell on good soil. This sower has really bad aim. If this guy was working for me, I would have fired him. He cannot get the seeds to where they belong. He is throwing those seeds everywhere, and seems to be wasting them. Does he know that there is just a limited supply of seeds, does he not watch where he is throwing, maybe he has no aim. Seems like this guy will put a seed anywhere. Seeds are money, and this seems to be a huge waste for the farmer. Maybe we should fire the sower?
Or not, notice that this guy is not concerned with where the seeds are spread. He is just throwing the seeds left and right. He seems to care less about the destination of the seeds. Does he not know we like middle class white people in this church, and how about Saddleback Sam, hopefully he threw some seeds his way. Maybe if we are lucky, none of those seeds went into the projects or to the trailer parks. But probably they did, and the next thing we know this church might be filled with Gentiles and Samaritans.
Sometimes we spend so much time making sure the seed is placed so perfectly in the soil, that we barely sow anything. We are so concerned about the destination of the seed that we stop throwing seeds left and right, but the sower in the parable just whiffs seeds everywhere. He seems to care less about final destination.
It seems that in church we have courses on how to throw seed (church growth), but this sower is just throwing seeds everywhere. We talk about how to throw seed, techniques for casting seed, but the sower just throws and he lets the soil do its thing.
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Great thoughts.
Jerrie Barber preached a series that I adapted (with his permission). It was called, “I Want the Church to Grow, but I Don’t Want Any More People,” and it dealt with how we all SAY we want our congregation to grow, but we usually mean that we’d like to make sure everyone “fits” our “look.”
It was a very effective series for me personally. I hope it continues to help me think about not worrying about skin color, socio-economic status, etc., but simply that each person on earth has a soul in need of a Savior.
Keep sowing the seed in Colorado!
Jerrie, has the best stuff. Thank you too. Keep up the good work.
There is a major difference between judging soil and sowing seed.
Amen to that.
Amen brother! Sometimes the “soil” in our churches does not have enough nutriants to allow even let the current crop to grow. Sometimes I wonder if crop rotation would help. Move people out of their comfort zones encourage them to go on step farther. Christ did not sit in a building waiting for people to come to him. Hewent out and found them. So should we.
Thanks for this thought. I am that kind of sower, and am careful not to debate with my fellow “farmers” aobut how I sow the seed given to me by the Father. The soil is hungry for seed, and I never sow sparingly. I sprinkle seed everywhere I go, just as the Plantation Owner’s Son did when He walked this land. Working with a lot of alcoholics and drug addicts seeking wholeness but fearing that God will judge them as harshly as they feel the church does, I sow seed in the rocks anyway. Sometimes, believe it or not, there is fertile ground below that I couldn’t see. Miraculous lives sprout, and my seed has many rebirths. I have come to know that I cannot tell the rocks from the fertile soil, only God can. My job is to continue sowing, and trust the Harvest Master for the rest. I am only a farmer, I cannot make the rain. But what a great loss if when the rain comes, I had not sown the seed I have because I thought I could tell that the soil wasn’t ready. So on I sow.