Spread the Seed

As a pastor, I have read many books about church growth and evangelism. It seems that there is no shortage of authors ready to tell other believers how to grow the church. In the past decade or so, a lot of books on evangelism have tried to cull insights from the secular field of marketing. These authors suggest that the strategies of marketing and advertising are useful to growing churches and to making converts. According to these authors, one of the lessons we learn from marketing is that we need to concentrate our efforts on a very specific, narrow demographic. In other words, we should try to reach people who are just like us. If you're in a congregation of young families, reach young families. If you are in a congregation of the elderly, reach the elderly. If you have a congregation of people who work high tech jobs, reach people who work high tech jobs. It has become common wisdom in church growth circles that evangelistic efforts have to be focused and narrow to be effective.

I have never written a book on church growth, but I don't know about that strategy. To me, Matthew 13 seems to suggest another approach. Much of Matthew 13 is taken up with the parable of the sower. I don't know about you, but to me the sower doesn't seem like much of a farmer. I thought farmers planted crops in nice straight rows. I thought that farmers made a hole for each seed they planted. The sower does none of those things. He just seems to throw a blizzard of seed anywhere he can find the space. That is not good twenty-first century farming. But it is good first-century farming. First-century farmers knew nothing of our modern agriculture. So how did they try to get good crop yields? The parable suggests that they sought good yields by throwing seed everywhere. The more places seed was sown, the more chance seed had to grow. Farmers back then knew if you wanted to see growth you had to plant a lot of seed in a lot of places. A paucity of seed would not produce fruit.

Why aren't churches growing today (at least in our part of the country)? There are lots of reasons. One reason is that we simply aren't spreading the seed. A more narrow marketing focus is not what the church needs. Jesus teaches us in this parable that to see growth lots of seed must be planted. Not all the seeds grow. There are obstacles that prevent faith in many people. That is why a lot of seed has to go out. It is only as the Gospel is spread to many people in many places that growth comes.

As Christians, we are apt to prejudge who might be saved and who will not. That is a mistake. Our job is not to save. Our job is to plant. I need to continue to look for every and any opportunity to spread the Gospel to others.