How to be a Fruitful Christian (Part 1)

The third kind of soil explained in the parable of the sower (Matt 13:1-23) is a patch of ground full of thorns. (see the previous two week's posts for the rest of the series)  The seed falls on soil and begins to put down roots and grow, but after a time a patch of thorns rapidly grows up and chokes out the small plants.  Jesus explains that spiritually this represents people who hear the word but are choked by cares of the world and do not become fruitful plants.  I would hazard a guess that this spiritual condition describes a large portion of the North American church.  We hear the word of God, begin to grow but are then choked out by all the busyness and cares of life.  We still believe in Jesus, go to church and even read our Bibles occasionally but fail to produce fruit because we are so distracted. 

Think about the cares and worries of life.  Who wouldn’t be distracted?  There are bills to pay, savings to set aside, future plans to consider, government forms to fill out, insurances to be bought, vehicles to buy, houses to renovate, children to take care of, activities to be completed, sports to play, new hobbies to find, collections to complete, bathrooms to be cleaned and the list goes on and on.

What about money?  We’re constantly thinking about money.  How can we get more money?  How can I pay my bills?  How much do I need to save to retire?  How can I pay for college?  How much insurance do I need to buy in case something goes wrong?  I saw an ad the other day for credit card insurance that will pay off your credit card balance in case you die or are disabled.  So, you could pay more money to feel safer about that credit card balance you shouldn’t have anyhow.  If that is not distraction, I’m not sure what is.

In short we are highly distracted.  On the other hand Jesus says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light.  Following Jesus is hard, yet simple.  Just picking a loaf of bread can be complicated.  There are 47 choices.  Following Jesus is just one simple choice and if we can tone down the distractions and tune into Jesus our lives will be a lot more meaningful and much less scattered.  We have to distill things down to a purpose.  Busyness without purpose leads to fruitless lives.  With Jesus we can live lives full of purpose and fruit.  The choice is up to each person.  Jesus, or everything else.  It can’t be both.

How to Put Down Roots

This week I’ll look at the second location where seed was sown in the parable of the sower.  This seed was sown and fell on rocks.  Jesus explained that spiritually this represents people who hear the word of God, receive it with joy, but do not grow roots and at the first sign of trouble resulting from the seeds of the gospel in their lives, they quickly fall away.

We are too self-sufficient when everything is easy.  Pain, trouble and persecution are a test of character.  This kind of person likes the gospel when life is going well, but doesn't have the roots to stick out the hard times.  This results from a lack of Christian growth.  Times of pain and trouble show very clearly a person’s true character and true nature.  As humans we often seek the path of least resistance but we generally learn that many things worth achieving are found only through discipline, sacrifice and hard times.  If we can’t stick out the hard times to let the seeds of the gospel grow in us we’ll never be able to grow to fruitfulness.

To counter the consequences of the seed that falls on the rocks we need to recognize that we have to be moving forward in Christian maturity.  This requires engagement in spiritual disciplines, emotional growth, mental growth and more.  In short we can’t stay where we are and hope that shallow roots will get us through hard times.  Shallow roots are easily destroyed.  We have to put down deep roots that will sustain us through hard times following Jesus.  Roots have to be able to stand strong winds, floods and crazy burrowing animals.  Seek God, persevere, put down deep roots.  It’s worth it.

Four Modern Challenges to the Gospel Part 1

Over the next number of weeks I’m going to spend some time digging into the parable of the sower found in Matthew 13:1-23.  This is one of my favourite parables in the Bible and I believe it has a very relevant application for the church today.  As Jesus explains the four different places where the seed falls, I believe we can make application to four modern challenges to the gospel message.  I’ll share some thoughts on each of these.

This week I’ll look at the seed that falls on the path.  If you’re following along with the parable you’ll see Jesus teaching about a farmer who goes out to sow some seeds.  The seeds fall on four different locations.  Some seed falls on a hard path and birds eat the seed.  Other seed falls on rocky ground and fails to grow roots, some seed falls amongst thorns that choke the seeds and finally some seed falls on good soil and bears an excellent crop.  After giving the parable Jesus explains that the seeds represent the gospel message of the Bible and the locations on the path refer to different reactions to the gospel message. Here we’ll find our application.

The first location explored in the parable is the seed that falls on the hard path.  Jesus goes on to explain that this location represents a person who hears the gospel and does not understand it.  The devil comes along and steals away the seed which was sown in that person’s heart.  In our culture this is a major challenge to the gospel.  Many people have heard the gospel but do not understand it and in a flash the seed of the gospel is lost.  It is important to note that seeds must be sown and then watered.  The Apostle Paul explains in I Cor 3:6 that he planted a seed, Apollos watered it and God gave the growth.  

Just like any farming, planting a seed of the gospel is a multi-stage process and many people are involved.  It’s not enough to just plant the seed and walk away. If the person who hears the gospel does not understand the gospel the seed is very likely to be snatched away by the devil.  You may not be the person to water the seed, but if you plant it, you need to consider how the seed will be watered that it might grow.

In our culture there is probably less common knowledge of the Bible than in recent past years so when seeds of the gospel are planted we have to ask: do people understand them? If the gospel is not understood, how can we explain it? Next week I’ll look at the seed sown on the rocks.