Friday, December 6, 2024

Understanding Your Role In The Gospel

"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." - Luke 8:11-15

I skipped over the parable and went straight to the explanation.  Something of note is that the farmer did not do a soil analysis before he cast the seed. His job was to cast the seed - as is ours. We should not second guess the efficacy of casting the seed when we think it will "not do any good". That is not our call nor given to our discernment. You don't pick the field - you just cast the seed of the Gospel. It is the Spirit of God that works in heart. Not the eloquence of the presentation or the audience. The fact of the matter is that you don't know who is ready to hear and who is not. And if there is no fruit then that is of no concern to you. If I can be blunt - just do your God-ordained part in lifting up Jesus to the world.

"And I [Jesus], when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." - John 12:32

Your ministry may be right where you live and not some distant land. Be faithful where God has planted you. "Bloom where you are planted"

"The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So, the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him." - Luke 8:38-39

He wanted to go where Jesus was going - do what Jesus was doing. But Jesus told him to go home and cast the seed there. 

"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ," - Ephesians 4:11-12

I don't know what the God-designed ratio is of shepherds to sheep. What I do know is that most of us will not be called to an equipping ministry - formally at least. I remember right after I was born again. I was a brand new "butter bar" - second lieutenant. That is the lowest commissioned officer rank - leader trainee. So I reasoned that if I was a "leader" in the Army and a Christian, well it made sense that I should be a chaplain. I set my plan into place. One day I was talking to another Christians who happened to be a Lieutenant Colonel. He said, "if you are a chaplain with a Christian Cross on your collar (we wore our branch insignia on our collars) then soldiers will expect that you behave in a certain way and only be surprised if you don't. But if you have a tank on your collar (I was an Armor officer at the time) then they will expect something much different and be surprised if you act like a Chaplain. You can have a greater impact on those around you if you are not a Chaplain." I took his advice. It was not until I left the army that I was called to full time ministry. 

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone 


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