Evangelism
“And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.” (Mark 4:26-27)
An old man once asked me: “Zach, do you know what success in evangelism is?” How would you answer that question? Our passage tells us that it cannot be in the amount of souls saved. We are not responsible for that; it is above our paygrade. Jesus is the Savior of sinners, not us. His answer was simple: “Success in evangelism is gauged by the amount of times you share the gospel.” Wow! That runs counter to the current wisdom that seems to only focus on “nickels and noses.” Corporate America may be focused on bigger budgets and bigger buildings, but our Savior orients our focus to a bigger faithfulness.
The Kingdom of God grows at God’s own discretion. God is sovereign over seedtime and harvest. He does not call us to expedite how fast the seeds sprout because we cannot. Growth takes time. The span between seedtime and harvest is what we call “watering and waiting.” Whereas most of us plant our gardens the week after Good Friday, we may not see growth until the beginning of May. But what do we do in the meantime? We water, we wait, and we pray. Now consider our own hearts for a moment. Can any man know with certainty how the Word of God is taking root in the heart of another man? We cannot peel back the layers and examine the seed. No, we water, we wait, and we pray. We water by surrounding them with godly influences. We wait patiently instead of brow beating them for a lack of growth. Most importantly, we pray. Prayer is an act of dependence, and we are dependent upon God for growth!
Tell me something – does this not affect how we consider evangelism? The farmer who sowed the seed may have checked the box, but he will not feed his family unless he continues to care for the seed he planted. Evangelism isn’t simply knocking on someone’s door, asking a few questions, and expecting a bountiful harvest. And yet, this has been the model most of us have known, hasn’t it? And we wonder why we feel like failures. If men treated their gardens this way, we would all starve. Evangelism should be seen less like a moment and more like a process. Evangelism is not one conversation in the store, but multiple dinners around the table. Sharing the gospel isn’t dropping seeds from 10,000 feet in the air, hoping for the best; sharing the gospel is planting one seed with care, expecting a harvest. My question for you is simple – are you checking a box or sowing a seed?
