The church is called by God to the Great Commission, to declare the Good News and make followers of Jesus, baptizing them and teaching them what Jesus taught. Along with that are the multiple aspects of gathering, prayer, worship and encouragement. But sadly, some churches get too focused on their internal programs that they lose the passion for the mission of the church.
How are we doing as a church? Are we still laser focused on the Great commission?
The parable of the sower is one of the few parables that Jesus explained to his disciples as we read in Matthew 13:18-23.
A sower went out to sow:
For any crop to grow, the seed needs to be sown. In the first century the farmer would manually throw the seed on the prepared ground. The seed represents the Gospel, the Word of God. The sower sows the seed, but God makes it grow, and this is also true of the Christian Walk.
Ultimately the purpose of sowing is to produce a crop. To grow something. To produce life. If there is no sowing, there is no life and only the Gospel message is able to produce eternal life.
A church that does not sow the seeds of the Gospel, cannot expect to see new life.
The sower sows the seed, but there are four different soils or receptors of the seed. These represent four different ways that people respond to the word of God.
1. The Pathway (Matthew 13:4)
The pathway is the area between the prepared soil, it is the place that people trample as they walk around the prepared soil. This hard ground represents a hardened heart that is not receptive to the Gospel.
People’s hearts can be hardened for several reasons; trauma, poor life choices, and often pain caused by other believers.
Someone with a hard heart, is not capable of receiving the word of God. Our best course of action in this case is to pray that the Holy Spirit would work and soften their hearts.
Satan loves a hardened heart. The birds in this parable represent how Satan comes and takes away even the seed of the Gospel (Matthew 13:19).
Never give up praying for someone who has a hardened heart.
2. The Rocky Ground (Matthew 13:5-6).
Sadly, not every positive response to the Gospel means new life. Many people are quick to respond to the Good News wanting the promise of eternal life, but in reality, they have made a superficial commitment.
Jesus said that the plant sprung up immediately, there is evidence of growth, excitement and energy, but the roots aren’t deep enough to sustain the new believer, when persecution and hard trials come. And eventually they wither away (Matthew 13:21).
As a church, we can be guilty of counting numbers, celebrating new responses and baptisms, which are all good, but are we discipling the new believer to help them grow, deep and sustaining roots.
The soil in the parable had rocks. A gardener must take pains to remove all rocks and stones before sowing, otherwise the plants will not develop healthy roots.
That is the discipleship process, it takes time, prayer and feeding on God’s word to remove the rocks from someone’s life. In fact, every believer should be working out the rocks in their lives as they come to the surface.
What are the Rocks?
The rocks in our lives are areas of compromise. These are pockets of embedded sin, sins that we are comfortable with.
There are the rocks of; unforgiveness, anger, addictions, hatred, racism, foolish talk, gossip, complaining, dishonesty and the like.
Anxiety is also a rock, fearing the unknown displays a lack of trust in God (Matthew 6:25).
The rocks come in many forms, but they all prevent us from growing deep, life sustaining roots. Invite the Holy Spirit to reveal to you, what are the areas of compromise that you are entertaining, that are preventing you from growing deep roots as a Christian.
3. The Thorny Ground (Matthew 13:7)
The thorny ground is more subtle than the rocky soil. Weeds are not immediately evident when planting in a freshly plowed field and weeds also have a nasty habit of returning.
Jesus explains that the thorns are the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches (Matthew 13:22).
The cares of this world can be good or bad, but ultimately, they are things that draw us away from our relationship with the Lord Jesus.
The Greek word translated “cares”, could mean anxiety, worry or anxious concern. Jesus warned against this in Matthew 6 and also we have the wonderful promise of 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.“
Jesus points out the deceitfulness of riches is a thorn. Being rich is not wrong nor sinful, but when our life revolves around our finances, then it becomes a thorny weed that chokes out the Gospel message. Sadly, we are a nation that is obsessed with wealth. And we know that money lies to us, it cannot make us happy or bring us eternal security.
We pull out the choking weed of the love of money by being aggressively generous. We destroy the alure of money by fully trusting the Lord with our finances and generously giving. Generosity kills the weed of anxiety and the deceitfulness of riches.
4. The Harvest (Matthew 13:9)
Jesus explained that good soil produces a bountiful harvest (Matthew 13:23).
A person with a receptive and fruitful heart is a recipient of God’s grace. While we can follow good spiritual disciplines to make our lives more fruitful for the Lord, ultimately a receptive heart is a gift from the Lord.
This is why it is vital for us to pray for our lost friends and neighbors, for our unsaved children and family members. Praying that God works a miracle in their hearts to receive the Gospel message.
Who are you praying for today?
The Fruit and the Sower.
What is the evidence of growth and fruit?
A good starting point is Galatians 5:22-23, but there is other evidence of a healthy Christian life. Fruit such as, godly character, integrity, soul winning, disciple making, generosity, endurance in suffering, the ability to control our emotions and our tongue, to name a few. These are evidence of a life committed to the Lordship of Jesus (see Psalm 1:3).
With so much focus on the soil, who is the sower?
While we are all the soil, recipients of the Gospel, we are also called to share the Gospel message. We have been commissioned by Jesus to share the Gospel message to the ends of the earth.
Are you intentionally sowing today?