No farmer would expect to reap a harvest of wheat in a field where he had not sown seed.
Photo credit: CIMMYT (Creative Commons)
Why do we believers expect to reap a harvest of souls where we haven’t sown spiritual seed?
There are similar principles of multiplication behind both physical and spiritual reaping and sowing. If we expect to see people become followers of Jesus without sowing the seed of the Kingdom, we are deluding ourselves.
What does this look like? According to Luke 8:11, the seed of the Kingdom is the word of God. In Matthew 13:38, the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom.
While at the Verge conference, I had the opportunity to attend some T4T training with Ying Kai. The T4Tmovement has seen more than 1.7 million baptisms and 150,000 new churches start since 2001.
What is the difference between what they see there compared to what we see in the West? They sow seed. Not just the occasional seed here or there. They sow abundantly.
The foundation behind their training is that each new believer is trained to share the good news of Jesus in simple ways right from the day they become a disciple. And not just once or twice. Each person is encouraged to share their personal story as a bridge to the Gospel, five times per week.
Is it surprising that they reap a big harvest?
5 replies on “Fast multiplication: principles behind an abundant harvest”
It’s so nice to be back in touch! 🙂
Bless you!
Jay
Jay, Good to hear from you. Am praying for you.
Felicity something I have wondered about on this subject is are there seasons of abundant sowing? As you know Luke 10 talks about once you find a person of peace you stay with them. For example right now my “free” time is taken up with the people God has connected me to disciple. Many of them have started simple churches. I am “reaching” many more people through these young disciples than I could on my own. I still look for opportunities in my work and normal life.
So what do you think?
Felicity, Thanks for the reminder on sowing.
Darrell, I like your thought, that there may be seasons.
But, like you, I still need to look to sow all the time.
Darrell, Have you read T4T–it’s an awesome book by Steve Smith and Ying Kai, who has seen a remarkable disciple making movement in Asia, based on disciples making disciples, or as he calls it, training trainers. I think we have to listen to the Lord and do what he says in all of these things, However, the Lord is speaking to me about being willing to do what I’m asking others to do. I’m also convinced that many of those who have been Christians for some time are not doing anything that looks like evangelism.
I’ve enjoyed connecting with Jay on fb