Mercifully Small

You could think of this post as follow up to the previous – Does Our Church Even Matter? , but it also partially derives from the context of the scripture we covered this past Sunday. We began in Matthew 13, wherein Jesus starts speaking to the people in parables, first offering the parable of the sower and the soils. In the course of considering this parable, we reflected on the various ways in which the Gospel is receive by people based upon the conditions of their heart. Ultimately, we concluded that a person can only receive the truth of the Gospel if God has cultivated their hearts. However, looking to Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:4-11 we also observed that God will use us in the process of cultivating people and preparing them to either receive or grow in the Gospel.

It’s an immense privilege to be included in God’s work of rescue and restoration. If we’re honest, it can also feel a tad overwhelming. Even while we may admit this work relies completely on the power of God, the breadth of the task and our commission make this easy to forget. After all, Jesus commands his disciples,

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." [Mat 28:19-20 ESV]

ALL the nations? That’s a lot of people. This would seem to be the field Jesus alludes to in the parable, featuring both tilled rows and hard paths. On the one hand, we have the sower liberally casting out the seed, such that it lands all over the place. On the other, we have Paul’s imagery of a farmer [in his case Apollos] carefully nurturing the seed that is planted through watering. Bring the two together and a small crisis erupts in our minds. We know seeds need watering, but now they are everywhere, and we can’t be everywhere with our small watering can. It’s enough to make an eager farmer despair.

Removing the imagery of the parable, the task of sharing the Gospel with the world (essentially with everyone) can feel terribly impossible because we know receiving the Gospel depends on those people being prepared and nurtured to receive it. We also know that we have been tasked with not only sharing the Gospel but also with giving special attention to individuals in helping them to receive and grow in it. If they need preparation and that preparation at least partially entails our participation as God’s instruments of cultivation, how can we ever live up to a task with such great a need?

As it turns out, our crisis is the fruit of misunderstanding. We think we’ve grasped the nature of this work simply by confessing the primary agency of God’s power in it, but there is more to be learned. While God’s work is singular in accomplishing the redemption of sinners (i.e. giving the growth), our participation in that work is varied. Moreover, it is small. There are a limited amount of people in your life that God will use you to water. Our lives are short, as the Psalmist testifies, “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” [Psa 90:10 ESV]. I have seen people implicitly use this as an excuse to shrug off the Gospel commission altogether, thinking they are too busy. This is a terrible error - we make time for Gospel work. We should only conclude from this reality that our lives have limits and that there are quite literally only so many people God would have us come alongside and water (intensively disciple). Such smallness usually means there won’t be anything flashy about it. It is a long work that requires patience and devotion. Most importantly, it is the work God has for you.

However, there is more. As previously stated, the work is varied. “Watering” is only one kind of work and it is distinct from “sowing.” We should spread the Gospel far and wide, even if we know we can’t reasonably stay alongside the work all the way through. Throughout your life will have passing opportunities to share morsels of the Gospel with others. They won’t be impressive, because when the seed hits the ground there isn’t much to see. Most of the time that will suffice as a job well done. The watering will be left to someone else, God will continue the work in his own way and time.

In truth, there is a whole range of varying levels of involvement that God might call us to between sowing (witnessing) and watering (discipling) from person to person. Primarily, we remember that it is God’s work and with such recall recognize the merciful smallness and varied employment which is ours who participate in it. Dispel with angst, take the field with joy, accept your responsibilities as a gift and your limits as a mercy.

Rev. Tom Loghry

Tom Loghry is the senior pastor of Rockland Community Church in North, Scituate, RI. He is a graduate of the Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies, Toccoa Falls College (B.S. Pastoral Ministry), and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.A. Theology). He is continuing his graduate studies in the area of “Ethics & Society” at GCTS.

Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.