Are You a Sower or a Grower? - February 22
Witnessing about our faith to other people, especially those who are closest to us, can be one of the scariest things that we do as Christians. We often psyche ourselves out beforehand with so many "what ifs" that we become too paralyzed with fear to ever open our mouths in the first place and share Christ with those people around us who need Him most.
And yet, listen to what Jesus has to say about sharing our faith with others in "The Parable of the Sower" from today's reading in Matt. 12-13 (ESV)
Back in my days as a missionary to Japan, I learned that one of the nicknames that had been given to Japan was "The Missionary Graveyard". The nickname had been given to Japan because so many missionaries ultimately quit, or even lost their faith, because they became so discouraged by the perceived "fruitlessness" of sharing their faith with the Japanese people. And after I lived in Japan for awhile, I did come to understand some of their frustrations with that particular mission field better myself. Japan is a nation where a great number of people are consumed by their careers and the pursuit of worldly things to the degree that religion very much gets a place on the "back burner" of life. Thus the fruits of faith can often seem "slow-growing", which can be discouraging to people like missionaries, causing them to wonder if it's somehow all their fault. Does any of this sound familiar to you at all as a modern-day American?
But ultimately, during my time as missionary to Japan, and as a Christian living in America, I've come to find peace in my witnessing efforts through "The Parable of the Sower". Because in this Parable, Jesus is telling us that we could theoretically sow seeds (i.e. share our faith) constantly, every single hour of every day... but in the end we can't do anything to make those seeds "take root" and grow into faith in people's hearts! The lesson of "The Parable of the Sower" is that only God has any power to make seeds grow. Realizing and accepting this takes a great deal of the pressure off of us when it comes to "converting" others to Christianity. In the end, we remember that we're just sowers... and only God has the power to be a grower!