The Peril of the Planter

Mark 4:3-8 "“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” 

About 6 months ago when I first started out doing background work in Hollywood I used to liken what I was doing to the parable of farmer scattering seed that we read about in Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8. I thought "I'm just going to scatter my seed of faith in this dark place and see what happens." I went on spreading my seed for a couple of months (ok, that sounds like I was trying to impregnate people, but you know what I mean) until I started feeling rather discouraged. It seemed like the world was too much for me and that people are far more convinced by the trappings of this world than they are by the love of a Man they've never even met, yet may have heard about from their abusive parents and/or condemning peers. Than I realized something about the farmer planting seeds that was slightly encouraging to me, in a rather bleak way.

I realized that the farmer must have sucked at being a farmer! Think about it, the "farmer" tries to plant seeds across footpaths filled with hungry (not angry) birds, shallow/rocky soil, and thorny ground before he eventually finds fertile soil. What kind of professional farmer, who grows food for a living, would be so clueless as to waste his seed on such unproductive ground? Unless the reality is that he doesn't see what lies beneath the soil. He doesn't see rocks laying just beneath the surface of the shallow soil, he doesn't see the footpath where the birds pick over the land, he doesn't see the thorns growing up to choke out all other life, he sees only the potential for growth in all of his land and is filled with hope for what God might do with it. Some may argue that he sees only what he wants to see, therefore he is naive for having such blind faith. But I would argue that he doesn't concern himself with what will be, only with what could be.

We all have to accept the fact that as Christians sent to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19) we have become farmers of men. I know "fishers of men" sounds more catchy but that's only because Jesus said it. We also have to accept that only a small portion of our crop will ever grow. However, that quarter of a crop will grow "thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!" So although it may seem like a perilous journey into ministry, it may actually be the most miraculous adventure in which we could ever partake. The trick is not to assume that we know what God will do with any particular part of the field, nor should we ever pretend to know what lies beneath the surface of the soil in which we are trying to plant the seed of Christ.

And that leads me to my next topic...