Farming 101

Most of you have heard of the parable of the sower. Here's a parable to examine the state of the church today:

There once was a great land owner, who owned many farms. As the time for the harvest grew near, he went down to inspect his farms. To his shock, his fields were choked with weeds, the soil dry and depleted of nutrients. His field hands, as if oblivious to the state of the field, were all busy randomly tossing seed over the fields. The farmer pulled aside his head foreman. "What is this? Why are my fields in such a state? Why have you not taken care of my crops?"
The foreman said, "Oh, Master, we knew you were coming, so we have been busy planting as many seeds as possible so you would have a large crop."
The farmer said, "It is august and you are still sowing? The fields ought to be ripe for the harvest, but instead the crop is failing! What good is it to me to have a large crop if you do not tend to the crop once it is planted?"

Obviously, in the Christian Faith, it is always the season for sowing, but at the same time, it is also the season for irrigating, weeding, and fertilizing in preparation for the coming Harvest. There is much more to farming than just sowing, just as there is much more to our service to the Lord than just sharing the gospel. But many in the church today have become so focused on sharing the gospel they forget there are other tasks which need done in the Kingdom, too. Many leaders in the church, much like the foreman above, look at the state of our world and the church today and declare that the Harvest draweth near--and from this conclusion they go about sowing as much seed as they can and trying to get all the field hands busy sowing, too. I have looked at the fields today and from what I have seen, whether the Harvest is coming soon, I don't know, but I do know the fields are a mess not because we haven't sown enough seed, but because we've been so focused on sowing, we've forgotten to fertilize, irrigate, and weed the crop. And then we wonder why it's failing. In fact, far too many, in their efforts to increase the crop, have actually robbed the crop of needed nutrients in fear of driving away those who don't want to grow. Is not a small, but healthy crop better pleasing to our Master than a large, but sickly crop?

Let's then take a look at 1 Cor. 12:15-21 (KJ21)

If the foot shall say, "Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, "Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body," is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now hath God set the members, every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased Him. And if they were all one member, where would be the body? But now there are many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, "I have no need of thee"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."

It seems to me the church today has declared we should all be feet, focused on evangelism even though some of us God may have created with other works in mind. In fact, many times when citing the passages from 1Cor 12, my own pastor has excluded evangelism from this, saying we are all called to that and if you don't have the personality for it, "then pray for holy boldness." While I would agree we should share the gospel whenever the opportunity to do so presents itself, this ignores what the scripture actually says. Not all of us are gifted for the work of evangelism nor do we all need to be. There are many other necessary and honorable tasks needing done in our Master's fields, some of which we're already suited for just as we are without "holy boldness." God does want us all to work in his fields, but we don't all have to be doing the sowing! We must be conformed to the image of Christ, but God created us introverts, too, and he has work for us to do without conforming us in the image of our extroverted brethren. As long as we serve the Lord using the gifts He has given us and are faithful to his call, even if we only sow along the way the occasional seed in the heart of a friend or acquaintance after the subject comes up, we too shall hear, "Well done." When the Harvest comes, God isn't going to be checking to see how many notches we have in our "Souls Saved" belt, he's going to be checking to see how faithful we've been in serving him with the Talents he's given us.

Now, as one last final warning, let's take a look at the Foreman's reasons for focusing on sowing. Having failed to see the real reason the fields were a mess, he continued in the behavior at the root of the problem, using the condition of the fields as an excuse, "The Harvest is coming soon. What can I do about the state of the fields? It's just going to get worse and worse until the Master comes and then he will make it right." Sadly, if we do not wake up and start working the fields instead of just throwing seed at them, this may well turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. The fields today aren't a mess because the Master wants them that way! They're a mess because we have been so busy sowing, we have neglected all our other duties in the fields.