Reap or Rot

Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by 

sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.  

Titus 1:9

Millions of believers throughout the world do not have a world view as seen through the word of God. Their concern focuses on their own family, community, and church. Because they have not understood God's plan for the world, they are not actively fulfilling their part in this plan.

A key to effective communication of the Godly world view is faithful men and women for discipleship:

And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.             2 Timothy 2:2

The word "faithful" means active, reliable, and trustworthy.  Not everyone will be receptive to this world view. Not everyone will be faithful to it. In sharing the vision, we must select those in whom we see qualities of an active, reliable, and trustworthy response to God. Those with whom we share the the good news of Jesus Christ must be faithful to teach others also. This is the only way reproduction and multiplication of people into the kingdom of God will continue.

Spiritual vision involves seeing beyond the natural world into the spiritual world. It is understanding the divine purpose of God and recognizing our part in His plan.

The vision is the same with which Jesus challenged His disciples over 2,000 years ago. In order to understand the meaning of the vision it is necessary to identify one of the basic principles of God's Word. This principle concerns natural parallels of spiritual truths and applying it to the vision God wants to conceive in us.

The vision with which Jesus challenged His disciples and which He desires to birth in our spirit was revealed by a natural parallel of a spiritual truth:

Jesus said to His disciples:  

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.  John 4:35

Jesus was not speaking of the natural harvest in the fields that stretched before them at the time in which He spoke these words. He was speaking of a spiritual harvest.

He used the example of the natural harvest to give His followers a vision that would provide meaning and spiritual direction for their lives.  What did this natural example of the harvest mean in the spiritual realm?

 Jesus was passing through Samaria on the way to Judaea. When He rested near a well His disciples went in search of food. While they were gone a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well and Jesus shared the Gospel with her.  (John 4:3-35)

When His disciples returned with the food, Jesus said to them:  

I have meat to eat that ye know not of...

My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.  John 4:32, 34

The most important thing to Jesus, more urgent than natural food and the necessities of life, was to do God's will and finish His work.

It was at this point in the conversation that Jesus used the example of the natural harvest. He used it to illustrate what He had just told His disciples: 

The most important thing in life is doing God's will and His work

What is God's will? What is His work? It is revealed in the vision of the harvest.  Jesus told His disciples to lift up their eyes and look at the natural fields of grain ready to harvest. He used these fields as an example of the spiritual fields of multitudes of men and women around the world who are ready to be harvested for the Kingdom of God.

While standing in the middle of visible natural harvest fields that day, the disciples experienced the birth of a spiritual vision.  It is the same vision Jesus wants to birth in our spirit. He wants to give us a vision of the spiritual harvest fields of the world which are ready to be reaped for His Kingdom. When we recognize the reality of that vision and understand our responsibility in fulfilling it, our life will never again be the same!

Jesus clearly stated:  

The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;  Matthew 13:38

South America, Europe,  Africa, North America, Asia, the Islands of the sea, Australia. . .  the harvest fields of the world are ripe with multitudes who have yet to hear the good news of the Kingdom of God.

The vision has not changed. It is the same as it was when Jesus birthed it in the lives of His disciples. The will of God is the same because the work of God is not finished.  There are millions yet untold. The vision is still the harvest fields of the world.

Why did Jesus use the example of the harvest to illustrate the spiritual vision? The disciples of Jesus could easily apply these principles to spiritual harvesting because of their familiarity with them in the natural world. Applying these natural principles spiritually would bring forth an abundant spiritual harvest.

Most importantly, the disciples recognized the urgency represented by the example of the natural harvest. When a crop was ripe it must be harvested immediately or it would ruin. It was a matter of reap or rot.

If the harvest was great and there were not enough workers available to reap it, the crop would be lost. Of the spiritual parallel to this natural problem Jesus said:  

The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.  Matthew 9:37

As we share what we have learned with others, remember we are not called to share our own cultural views. We are to share the word of God.  Culture is the acquired pattern of how things are done in a certain environment. It involves customs, traditions, language. . . actually all of lifestyle and behavior. We are greatly affected by the culture in which we live. As a result, we come to think that our way of doing things is best. But we should realize that no one culture is superior to another. 

Our call is not to change the culture or share our own way 

of doing things which we might perceive as superior.  

Our only concern with culture is when practices are in direct violation of God's written Word.  Then we must confront and deal with them as sin. We are not called to take civilization to other cultures. Our purpose is not to save society, but to save souls. 

The purpose of a fisherman is not to change the sea but to catch the fish in it.

Focus on the major task at hand which is the teaching of faithful men and women.

As faithful believers tasked with sharing the vision of Jesus, we must: 
    

¨     Become a model of the vision.       

¨     Communicate the vision to others.

¨     Keep the vision as the central focus of our life.

¨     Obey the vision.

First, we must embrace the world view as seen by God our self. When we have recognized our responsibility to the Great Commission and our heart has been touched with concern for the nations of the world, then we can become a model of the vision.

As a model, you become a living example before your friends,  family and acquaintances. Let them see our own concern for the cause of Christ and feel our heart for the nations of the world. Let them see us actively engaged in reaching others with the Gospel. The greatest teaching is not done by words. It is done by example. We see this in the life and ministry of Jesus; a living epistle.

Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.  2 Corinthians 3:3

We must keep the vision as the central focus of our life.  It is not enough just to develop a Godly world view and communicate it to others. We must act upon what we have learned:  

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.   2 Timothy 3:16-17

Every principle of Scripture we learn should equip us to do good works. We know many biblical principles, but knowledge without action is like faith without works. If you only know principles and there is no active response to that knowledge, then it is a spiritual dead end. Receiving the vision is not enough. Communicating it to others is not enough. You and those you disciple must also obey the vision.

Begin to obey the vision right now, right where you are.  

As we join others in obeying the vision, we all become a model of the vision and the cycle continues as we communicate it to others.

The best gift we can share is Jesus! 

(Biblical Studies)


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