Posts Tagged ‘soil’

At the risk of appearing as if I have no original thoughts, I must share a concept my pastor (Jeff Bartell) elaborated on last Sunday.  He preached a message out of Mark 4, specifically looking at the parable of the soils taught by Jesus.  In this passage, only one out of the four types of soil yielded any fruit.  This, he referred to as the “good” soil.

What is “good” soil?  If you could think of the ideal person you would want to attend your church and come home to have lunch with you afterward, what does that person look like?  Many of us look for popular, attractive, influential, intelligent, and talented individuals to recruit for ”our” ministries.  However, Jesus wasn’t really all that compelled to cultivate these types of individuals.  Instead, Jesus was quite content to cultivate the lives of a few no-name fishermen, tax collectors, and social outcasts.

My pastor made the statement that:  “Bad people often make the best soil because of all the fertilizer in their lives.”  He went on to note that intellectuals with high morals, wealth, and influence often are described in the Word of God as bad soil.  Instead, the poor, immoral, young, uneducated, and insignificant are often those that God uses in the greatest capacity.

It is important that we see this world as God sees it – that we understand what is important to Him, rather than seek to recruit those who appear attractive to us.  If you want a fruitful ministry, perhaps you should consider the type of soil you are cultivating and investing in. 

[youversion]Mark 4:1-20[/youversion]   [youversion]1 Corinthians 1:26-29[/youversion]   [youversion]Luke 5:31-32[/youversion]   [youversion]Luke 18:24-25[/youversion]   [youversion]James 2:5[/youversion]