The Workers Are Few – Part Two
Many Christian parents look upon the success (or failure) of their children as being part of the crop that they, as parents, produced.
A godly home can certainly be a positive source of influence, but at the end of the day, each individual will eventually choose to follow the spiritual guidance (if it exists) of the parents or take another path.
I say “if it exists” because a parent can only pass onto his or her children what he or she has first made a part of his or her own soul structure (1) and has applied (2) to his or her own life.
As the old saying goes, the path to Hell is paved by good intentions. There are many “religious” parents that are blind leading the blind (3).
In the religious world, it is usually the parent who teaches the children, but in the Christian world, it can be one of the children that leads the parent to salvation and edification.
False religion, supported by traditions of men and cultural pressure, has a rolling snow-ball effect, gaining size and destructive capability.
Wayward and rebellious children, young and adult, can be a heavy load on the hearts of Christian parents. The tree was planted, watered, and cared for, but fails to produce the desired fruit.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22: 6 NASB).”
However, Prov. 22: 6 outcome is equally conditional on the leadership on the part of the PARENT and on the exercising of the free will on the part of the CHILD.
The phrase, “when he is old” is speaking of spiritual maturity, not biological age. There are many Christians, young and adult, who will never grow up spiritually.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers (participating in the Great Commission), you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food (Heb. 5: 12 NASB parenthesis mine).”
Note that even in a stage of spiritual maturity, one can choose to engage in great sin. David was a man who God defined as a man after His own heart (4). Yet, he committed adultery and had his pregnant lover’s husband killed after trying to cover it up.
As the old saying goes, you (parents) can (and should) lead the horse (children) to water, but you can’t make it drink.
Children do not come with a lifetime guarantee for success. In fact, they come into this world with a fallen nature that is inherently hostile (5) towards God and the things of God, bent towards embracing evil (6).
If the Proverbs 22: 6 outcomes were not conditional, then the level of spiritual maturity of the children of each generation of the Church Age would be at least as equal to that of the parents. But sad to say, the moral decline of each generation can be seen within the Christian Community, as well (7).
Even during the great apostasy of the end times (8) within the Christian Community, there will always (9) be a minority (10) within each generation of the Church Age that will preserve and promote the unadulterated Gospel Message, embrace discipleship, and pass the torch down to the next generation.
. . .
The Flood of Noah’s Day washed SINNERS away, but did not wash SIN away. The descendants of Noah continued on in the ways of Fallen Man. It’s in the nature (11) of the beast.
Our fallen nature remains to be a force of negative influence, even after one is born again. Paul wrote of his ongoing struggle with his fallen nature almost thirty years after his salvation, towards the end of his earthly ministry in his letter to the believers in Rome.
Good people can come from bad environments and bad people can come from godly homes.
Abraham and Moses were raised in Pagan societies, but later became great (not perfect) men of God. Paul, prior to his conversion, was one of the most devoted persecutors determined to destroy the Church.
Effective reformation in the spiritual realm begins when one chooses to forsake negative behaviors and to embrace positive actions in order to establish, re-establish, and or to maintain a godly lifestyle.
. . .
“Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man (parent) who sowed good seed in his field (family). But while his men were sleeping (not consciously aware), his enemy (the devil’s world) came and sowed tares (poisonous information) among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the (consequences of poisonous) tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? (Didn’t you raise your kids right?) How then does it have tares? And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn (Matt. 13: 24-30.
God allows ungodly people to coexist with godly people, giving them time, example, and opportunity to repent. A godly parent’s heart will ache, hoping for the return of his or her prodigal son or daughter (12).
When the proper seeds (information and example) are planted and watered, the farmer (parent) has done his duty.
There comes a time when each child has to make his or her own choices, and as a result, receive the corresponding blessings or consequences.
Entire families gathered together for social and religious events paint a pretty picture, as a truce is called to get through the day. But as soon as the event is over with and the guests depart and head out on their separate ways, the ongoing conflicts revive, usually beginning with who said what during the event.
In Luke 12: 51-52, Jesus spoke very candidly about the spiritual status of individual members within the families, here in the Church Age.
“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three (Luke 12: 51-52 NASB).”
Same home; same parents; same up-bringing; VERY different outcomes!
God desires that everyone will be saved (13), but it is up to each individual to get on board. There is no family coverage in God’s plan for salvation. Simply being the father, mother, son, or daughter of a born-again believer does not, in of itself, mean that you are Heaven bound.
. . .
After doing our part, the final outcome of any given crop involving other people, be they at home, work, school, or play, the final outcome is not in our hands.
Responsibility for crop failure is on the one’s who choose not to respond to the planting and watering. When people choose to respond, it is God who causes the growth, and it is God (not the one who plants or waters) that should be given the credit and glory.
“So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth (1Cor. 3: 7 NASB).”
The few WORKERS of Matt. 9: 27 are born again believers who go on to become advancing disciples. It is because so many born again believers do not enter or remain in the life of post salvation discipleship, that the workers are so few.
There are Christians who would have a hard time recalling the last time they shared the Gospel Message or an edifying principle of Scripture with anyone outside of their own comfort zone of like-minded friends and family.
Even within their comfort zone, many will only take their discipleship so far (14).
There are souls in need of salvation and or edification among the people with whom we live, work, study, play or otherwise interact with on a daily basis.
Some might rationalize and say they have enough on their own plate without worrying about everyone else. They will ask, “Who made the spiritual well-being of others my responsibility?”
The answer is found in Matt. 28: 19, 20.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 20: 19, 20 NASB)."
As Christ’s ambassadors, we are not responsible for the choices that other people make, but we are responsible, when God gives us the opportunity, to provide others with the truth so that they can have the opportunity to make informed decisions.
Before ascending and returning to Heaven, Jesus commissioned the Church, that was about to be established, to proclaim the unadulterated Gospel Message for salvation, and to make DISCIPLES (student’s and appliers of the Word of God) out of those who are born again by teaching them accurate Bible Doctrine.
If you have been born again, you ARE a part of the commissioned Church that God established. Frequent inspections (15) of the fruit that one is producing can go a long way in determining the final outcome of the quality and the quantity of the crop produced.
(1)\tMatt. 7: 24-27 (2) James 1: 22 (3) Matt. 15: 14 (4) Acts 13: 22 (5) Rom. 8: 7 (6) Gen. 6: 5 (7) 1Tim. 4: 1 (8) 1Tim. 4: 1 (9) Matt. 16: 18 (10) Matt. 7: 13 (11) Rom. 8: 7 (12) Luke 15: 20 (13) 1Tim. 2: 3, 4 (14) Luke 14: 26 (15) 2Cor. 13: 5
Many Christian parents look upon the success (or failure) of their children as being part of the crop that they, as parents, produced.
A godly home can certainly be a positive source of influence, but at the end of the day, each individual will eventually choose to follow the spiritual guidance (if it exists) of the parents or take another path.
I say “if it exists” because a parent can only pass onto his or her children what he or she has first made a part of his or her own soul structure (1) and has applied (2) to his or her own life.
As the old saying goes, the path to Hell is paved by good intentions. There are many “religious” parents that are blind leading the blind (3).
In the religious world, it is usually the parent who teaches the children, but in the Christian world, it can be one of the children that leads the parent to salvation and edification.
False religion, supported by traditions of men and cultural pressure, has a rolling snow-ball effect, gaining size and destructive capability.
Wayward and rebellious children, young and adult, can be a heavy load on the hearts of Christian parents. The tree was planted, watered, and cared for, but fails to produce the desired fruit.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22: 6 NASB).”
However, Prov. 22: 6 outcome is equally conditional on the leadership on the part of the PARENT and on the exercising of the free will on the part of the CHILD.
The phrase, “when he is old” is speaking of spiritual maturity, not biological age. There are many Christians, young and adult, who will never grow up spiritually.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers (participating in the Great Commission), you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food (Heb. 5: 12 NASB parenthesis mine).”
Note that even in a stage of spiritual maturity, one can choose to engage in great sin. David was a man who God defined as a man after His own heart (4). Yet, he committed adultery and had his pregnant lover’s husband killed after trying to cover it up.
As the old saying goes, you (parents) can (and should) lead the horse (children) to water, but you can’t make it drink.
Children do not come with a lifetime guarantee for success. In fact, they come into this world with a fallen nature that is inherently hostile (5) towards God and the things of God, bent towards embracing evil (6).
If the Proverbs 22: 6 outcomes were not conditional, then the level of spiritual maturity of the children of each generation of the Church Age would be at least as equal to that of the parents. But sad to say, the moral decline of each generation can be seen within the Christian Community, as well (7).
Even during the great apostasy of the end times (8) within the Christian Community, there will always (9) be a minority (10) within each generation of the Church Age that will preserve and promote the unadulterated Gospel Message, embrace discipleship, and pass the torch down to the next generation.
. . .
The Flood of Noah’s Day washed SINNERS away, but did not wash SIN away. The descendants of Noah continued on in the ways of Fallen Man. It’s in the nature (11) of the beast.
Our fallen nature remains to be a force of negative influence, even after one is born again. Paul wrote of his ongoing struggle with his fallen nature almost thirty years after his salvation, towards the end of his earthly ministry in his letter to the believers in Rome.
Good people can come from bad environments and bad people can come from godly homes.
Abraham and Moses were raised in Pagan societies, but later became great (not perfect) men of God. Paul, prior to his conversion, was one of the most devoted persecutors determined to destroy the Church.
Effective reformation in the spiritual realm begins when one chooses to forsake negative behaviors and to embrace positive actions in order to establish, re-establish, and or to maintain a godly lifestyle.
. . .
“Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man (parent) who sowed good seed in his field (family). But while his men were sleeping (not consciously aware), his enemy (the devil’s world) came and sowed tares (poisonous information) among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the (consequences of poisonous) tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? (Didn’t you raise your kids right?) How then does it have tares? And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn (Matt. 13: 24-30.
God allows ungodly people to coexist with godly people, giving them time, example, and opportunity to repent. A godly parent’s heart will ache, hoping for the return of his or her prodigal son or daughter (12).
When the proper seeds (information and example) are planted and watered, the farmer (parent) has done his duty.
There comes a time when each child has to make his or her own choices, and as a result, receive the corresponding blessings or consequences.
Entire families gathered together for social and religious events paint a pretty picture, as a truce is called to get through the day. But as soon as the event is over with and the guests depart and head out on their separate ways, the ongoing conflicts revive, usually beginning with who said what during the event.
In Luke 12: 51-52, Jesus spoke very candidly about the spiritual status of individual members within the families, here in the Church Age.
“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three (Luke 12: 51-52 NASB).”
Same home; same parents; same up-bringing; VERY different outcomes!
God desires that everyone will be saved (13), but it is up to each individual to get on board. There is no family coverage in God’s plan for salvation. Simply being the father, mother, son, or daughter of a born-again believer does not, in of itself, mean that you are Heaven bound.
. . .
After doing our part, the final outcome of any given crop involving other people, be they at home, work, school, or play, the final outcome is not in our hands.
Responsibility for crop failure is on the one’s who choose not to respond to the planting and watering. When people choose to respond, it is God who causes the growth, and it is God (not the one who plants or waters) that should be given the credit and glory.
“So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth (1Cor. 3: 7 NASB).”
The few WORKERS of Matt. 9: 27 are born again believers who go on to become advancing disciples. It is because so many born again believers do not enter or remain in the life of post salvation discipleship, that the workers are so few.
There are Christians who would have a hard time recalling the last time they shared the Gospel Message or an edifying principle of Scripture with anyone outside of their own comfort zone of like-minded friends and family.
Even within their comfort zone, many will only take their discipleship so far (14).
There are souls in need of salvation and or edification among the people with whom we live, work, study, play or otherwise interact with on a daily basis.
Some might rationalize and say they have enough on their own plate without worrying about everyone else. They will ask, “Who made the spiritual well-being of others my responsibility?”
The answer is found in Matt. 28: 19, 20.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 20: 19, 20 NASB)."
As Christ’s ambassadors, we are not responsible for the choices that other people make, but we are responsible, when God gives us the opportunity, to provide others with the truth so that they can have the opportunity to make informed decisions.
Before ascending and returning to Heaven, Jesus commissioned the Church, that was about to be established, to proclaim the unadulterated Gospel Message for salvation, and to make DISCIPLES (student’s and appliers of the Word of God) out of those who are born again by teaching them accurate Bible Doctrine.
If you have been born again, you ARE a part of the commissioned Church that God established. Frequent inspections (15) of the fruit that one is producing can go a long way in determining the final outcome of the quality and the quantity of the crop produced.
(1)\tMatt. 7: 24-27 (2) James 1: 22 (3) Matt. 15: 14 (4) Acts 13: 22 (5) Rom. 8: 7 (6) Gen. 6: 5 (7) 1Tim. 4: 1 (8) 1Tim. 4: 1 (9) Matt. 16: 18 (10) Matt. 7: 13 (11) Rom. 8: 7 (12) Luke 15: 20 (13) 1Tim. 2: 3, 4 (14) Luke 14: 26 (15) 2Cor. 13: 5