Scatter the Seed (eBook)

CHAPTER 1

TIMES HAVE [NOT] CHANGED

New Farming Techniques

Once there was a Master Gardener who taught his aspiring farmers about scattering seed. The story opens with an anecdote by the Master Gardener:

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

The Master Gardener stayed with his farmers, training them to scatter seed and care for plants. Then he departed, leaving his farmers to carry on his work. The farmers scattered seed and saw crops multiply. This continued for generations. Some generations were more successful than others, but all of them knew that scattering seed was integral to growing crops. It was their job.

Eventually, a new generation of farmers encountered a newfound difficulty with scattering seed. Perhaps it was harder than in previous generations, or maybe it just felt that way. For all their effort sowing, reaping was minimal. These farmers began to rethink the business of scattering seed. It seemed to them that the soil was resistant to their seed. Some areas had become hardpacked while other areas were so nutrient depleted that few arable plots existed. The farmers could almost sense hostility when they scattered seed, which made them feel uncomfortable. The seed scatterers began discussing their struggles as they considered how to respond.

“The seed is to blame,” offered one farmer. “It may have worked well in the past, but it does not work well with today’s constraints.”

A few nodded in assent. They had, after all, used the same seed for generations. Could its germination rates have been reduced?

“I think the problem lies with the soil,” countered another farmer. “Generations before us did not work the ground right, and we are suffering the consequences.”

The notion that the farmers bore no responsibility for the current predicament found significant agreement. Whether the fault lay with seed or soil, the problem must have developed over time. The solution, they knew, was up to them. Was it time to change their methods?

With a decreased trust in the effectiveness of the seed, these soil-focused farmers shifted their focus to include working the soil more and scattering seed less. Improving the soil became their topic of discussion; after all, they were fully aware of the problem of erosion. In time, planting seed and growing plants became lesser priorities. Instead, they championed whatever cause focused on soil readiness.

Scattering seed diminished, and fewer plants grew. The soil-focused farmers blamed the lack of growth on the pH level, amount of clay in the ground, and moisture retention levels. They did not, however, associate these lower germination rates with a decrease in sowing seed.

A different discovery caught the eye of the seed-focused farmers: while their own crops failed to grow abundantly, weeds produced a bumper crop. These farmers shifted their focus to the weeds, looking for clues from the unintended crop—clues that might assist their own farming methods. Observation quickly turned to admiration.

“This weed sprouted here on its own,” remarked an impressed farmer, “with no help at all.”

“I think weed seeds are being scattered by the wind,” explained another.

“And then the weeds grow up quickly and healthy,” another farmer noticed. “Maybe they grow and spread better because they scatter seed on their own.”

These farmers became convinced that scattering seed was less important than ever before. Perhaps learning to enjoy weeds would save them a great deal of heartache while keeping the soil intact.

Scattering had all but disappeared, and few crops grew. Weeds were plentiful, and so was the farmers’ knowledge of the soil’s needs. This kept the farmers busy, and they saw some measure of favor from advocates in the weed community. The farmers celebrated their fresh direction. No longer were they tethered to one specific type of seed; they had gained newfound support for their diversification.

You Were Farming So Well. Who Made You Stop?

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus describes one activity for the farmer: scattering the seed. Hard ground, thorny weeds, and rocky soil exist, but the method of scattering seed was the same—and it has not changed in the past two thousand years. Crops still grow when seed is scattered. While on earth, Jesus spoke a great deal about the Kingdom of God, which He established while on earth and which will be fully realized upon His return. His Kingdom is His garden. Just as Adam and Eve had a garden to tend in Eden, the Lord calls the church to tend His Kingdom garden, to scatter the seed until His return. Making disciples of Jesus is the primary element of the church’s mission.

While the church has changed since Jesus commissioned believers to make more believers, the call to scatter seed has not. Beginning around the middle of the twentieth century, some churches implemented changes that attempted to improve on Jesus’s primary job description for the farmer. These modifications led to a decrease in evangelistic activity, the very seed-scattering process that draws a person to Christ. Even when outreach activities have flourished, many have strayed from evangelism and discipleship. In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul writes to a church that had abandoned the gospel for works-based practices. He writes, “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?” (Gal. 5:7). A similar question may be posed to Christians today. What hindered the church from obeying its mission to be seed scatterers? Historical distinctions in the twentieth century reveal how the changes have occurred.

Struggle within the Church

The rise of liberal theology—beginning in Germany in the late nineteenth century and continuing in the United States—explains some of the consolidation of theology at the expense of evangelism. Conservative1 Christians vigorously defended “the fundamentals” of the Christian faith, rightly perceiving the theological dangers of liberal drift. Where “fundamentalists” focused on sound theology, liberal thinkers focused on practical ministry. The danger of preferring the practical to the fundamentals may be best illustrated in the story of a train accident of an earlier era.

A train gate operator was on trial following a crash. His job was to wave a lighted lantern when an approaching train neared an ntersection at night. Oncoming wagons would know to stop, preventing collision. Under oath, the operator testified that he had been waving his lantern on the night of the collision, but the train collided with a wagon and subsequently derailed. Several died in the accident. The watchman and the railroad company were acquitted.

Following the trial, the railroad attorney congratulated the watchman for his testimony and the watchman replied, “I sure am glad the other attorney didn’t ask me if the lantern was lit!”

Theologically liberal churches that have strayed from the fundamental truths of God’s Word are waving unlit lanterns. Those ineffectual lamps did not result in changed lives even though bellies were filled as surface-level needs were met. But the conservatives, eager to show their lighted lanterns were just that, were guilty of another sin: many failed to wave their lanterns for others to see. They remained hidden under an academic bushel, equally ineffectual for a world in darkness.

Growth outside the Church

When churches abandoned the job of seed scattering, parachurch ministries became popular, filling the void. Organizations such as Young Life began to proliferate on the American scene beginning in the 1940s, and the resulting changed lives poured in. During the same time, Billy Graham’s astounding ministry took hold. Churches paid attention: they began to emulate the parachurch ministries. In the 1970s, church denominations began developing youth ministries, largely based on the model of successful parachurch organizations. Over subsequent decades, churches have followed these paradigms and attracted people to the extent that their approaches also become popular.

Are We Really Making Disciples?

The “attractional” church model attempts to draw people in through exciting methods with the goal that those people might come to faith in Christ. Many churches saw a surge of success with this method. Advertising works: if a church can successfully market to people who need a church home and demonstrate churches are not as strange as outsiders previously thought, then the church is on its way to numerical growth.

One of the most famous models of this approach was Willow Creek Community Church, which attracted thousands to its Chicago campus. It is hard to argue with success. But Willow Creek had the guts to argue...