Wednesday: On Being a Farmer
Read John 4:35-38. What is Jesus telling us here about the different steps needed in reaching souls?
The work of a farmer is multifaceted. Other types of farming work must be done before a harvest can be plentiful (Matt. 9:35-38). Not only reapers are needed in the Lord’s harvest field. Can you imagine a farmer at harvesttime saying to his farmhands, “Harvesttime is here, so we must start planting seeds”? Reaping is best done after you have been farming all along.
Farming includes preparing the soil, for not all ground is good ground at first. (Read Matt. 13:3-9.) What can your church do in your community to soften “hard ground” and remove “rocks” and “thorns”?
Image © Review & Herald Publishing from GoodSalt.com
Workers have done the hard farming work before the harvest, and other workers reap the benefits of their labor. Sometimes evangelistic outreach strategies have emphasized reaping more than they do the preparatory farming. This is not how it should be done. The soil should be prepared long before the evangelist just shows up and starts preaching in hopes of reaping a harvest.
We should look at working in the harvest field as a process: testing the soil, preparing/cultivating the soil, planting, watering, fertilizing, fighting pests, waiting, reaping, and preserving the harvest.
Reaping the harvest is only one part of the process. In the church, the “farming” process could include soil-testing activities, such as community needs assessment surveys, demographics, and interviews with community leaders. There can be soil preparing/cultivating activities, such as meeting needs in the community which are revealed by the community assessment; seed-planting activities, such as seminars, Bible studies, and small groups; and praying for the rain-the Holy Spirit. Few people are won to Christ with only one exposure. We need to nurture them with a process of multiple exposures, increasing the likelihood that they will be ready for harvesting. If we rely only on scattered events, it is unlikely that the new plants will survive until the harvest.
| What role should you be playing in the whole process of winning souls, as opposed to the role, if any, that you are now in? |
(19)
One facet of cultivation that is not mentioned in the lesson is the need for patience. My wife is the worst gardener imaginable. If we sow a row of carrots and there is no sign of them popping through the soil the next day, she thinks that something is wrong and she starts looking in the soil to see what is happening. Germination takes time! And if you disturb the seeds during germination then the lead roots get damaged and the developing plant dies. Seeds, once planted and watered need to be left undisturbed until they have germinated and their leaves have pushed through the soil. Seeds do that in their own time and there is not much we can do about it.
Likewise we need to appreciate that the seed of the Gospel, once sown, should be allowed to develop and grow in the minds of the hearer.
As an educator I have found it important to give my students what I call "soakage time" after teaching a new concept. It takes a bit of time after presenting a new idea for students to come to grips with the idea - they need to think about it for a while. During that time it pays not to present any new teaching material, but rather, let them express the idea in their own way.
Patience is something that appears to be missing in our modern world with our instant meals, Internet delivery of nearly everything, and so on. Patience, "waiting on the Lord" is very necessary when communicating the Gospel.
All of us are called to the field, but not all can do preaching or teaching. You become a gospel sower by many ways, some of us are good in giving, singing, saving people and some like me are good in publishing books. So everyone has to fit somewhere here. Example, if you just buy a book and give it to the publishers, you are also taking part of Gosper sower. Socializing with others about our creator is good also. Some people they join by seeng ur good attitude in your community
Well said Maurice Ashthon
Timely advice Maurice. Most of us do not want to miss out on what is perceived as the latest, what ever. If it is faster and more plentiful, wait, is not in their vocabulary. God has His own time table for what ever endeavor is undertaken. Patience is not a diligent practice, or one of my strong points. James 5:7,8, has much a similar message regarding patience that you mention Maurice. The King James version uses perseverance in place of patience in many places that we understand a little differently, however they are both very applicable.
Lord make me a willing laborer in the work of the salvation of souls . Amen
I remember telling my church, about 9 years ago when we first moved into our current church, the soul winning process, as stated in the last paragraph of today's lesson. We did a few of these things (but not all, not everyone was listening), but we did not continue doing most of them because we did not reap a harvest from our efforts. We all must remember our bible text for today:
"And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.", John 4:36-38.
Jesus is telling us not to worry about whether you are a sower or a reaper, both are necessary to finish the work. If you are a sower, you may not be around when the people in the community, where you laboured, is harvested. Don't worry, you too will receive a star on your crown for the labor you have done.
Read this week's Mission Story as an example of being sower, and not necessarily reaper. The next sower in that village, may reap a few souls. You can get to the Mission Story by clicking on the "Weekly Lesson" under "Adult SS" on the main menu of this page. Enjoy being a "Sower" or a "Reaper"!!
The parable of the sower can not be ignored in Matthew 13:1-9,when the emphasis on our programs for spreading the Gospel is measured in successes alone. Being a farmer is somewhat different as the lesson points out. Many different steps are needed to be a successful farmer.
Indeed it's a challenge to most of us who always want to have bounties of harvest not proportional to efforts made in preparation. we should always dedicate much of our time in preparing our fields even before we sow. Learn of your your field and ask yourself
1. what is the condition of my field?
2. what should I exactly do to revitalize the condition?
3. Am I well prepared or rather do I have what it takes to accomplish the mission?
...of cause with God everything is possible,we are just but His co-workers in the field, minus Him all shall be in Vain. Seek Him to feed you with the Holy spirit and best message to use in the field (Isaiah 50:4-The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned,that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakemneth mine ear to hear as the learned).
Thank you.
In fact the biggest problem we have in the church today is our focus on reaping. The primary focus in almost all our efforts is to reap. We work, pray and labor more to see the church full in our days and time. What a lesson! Most of us do not even labor to prepare the soil where we will plant. Neither do we think about weeding. Some crops need to weeded not only twice but many times! We do not want to think about the pests that may attack our crops. Neither have we designed any strategies to control the pests! We just want to keep reaping, reaping, and reaping some times where we didn't even sow seed!
Where I go to serve, I need to prepare through concentrated prayer and learning specific scriptures to share. (preparing the soil) Doesn't always happen. I go and water, then I'm eager for the harvest and have grown impatient at times when I don't see results as I would like. Weeding, in this situation, would be getting rid of distractions (although may be good on it's own merit) that take away time and effort from the target crop.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus never taught that His servants were to pull weeds, remove rocks or till the hardened pathway. Jesus only taught us to sow the good seed. In this parable the soil conditions show what type of hearts will receive the good seed when we sow it. These conditions are the result of personal choices others have made, and it is not our work to change people. The good seed will bring this knowledge to them if sown correctly, and under the conviction of the Holy Spirit those who respond will become good soil.
How is the soil in our own lives? Have we asked Jesus to:
"Break down every idol, cast out every foe;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
We have to clean our garden first before we clean others ,telling people about Christ sometimes, people the only bible they will ever read IS our relationship with Christ into the community
While is is true that we need to have a relationship with Jesus before we can introduce others to Jesus, there is a danger in waiting until we are nearly "perfect" before introducing others to Him. If we wait until we got it all right, we'll never lead others to Christ. The healed demoniac spent only a few hours with Christ before He sent him on a mission to tell others what Christ had done for him. It is the same with us. We are commissioned to tell others what Christ has done for us and to invite them to experience His love for themselves.
On the other hand, if we know of nothing Christ has done for us, we need to seek a heart conversion, or we are not ready for heaven ourselves.
Inge, A couple of qualifiers, we need to have a relationship with Jesus and if we do not recognize what Jesus has done for us and seek a heart conversion, Heaven may not be ready and waiting for us. Those were not verbatim words. Just my understanding of what some of the points are.
There are a fair number of ideas in the lesson this week as to methods and ways to lead someone to Christ. It seems if I am going to lead, I need to be qualified to lead.
Two idioms come to mind. It is better to do something possibly the wrong way than nothing at all. Recognizing a need, for me is step number one.