Look
on Fields White To Harvest
GOD
COMMANDS CHURCH GROWTH
Dr. Donald McGavran
The Final Lectures
Lecture 2
Look on fields
White to Harvest
As the Lord Jesus, accompanied by His disciples walked through Samaria,
He said earnestly to them, “Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now
he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be
glad together” (John4:35-36 NIV). The
Lord also said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to
send out workers into his harvest field” (Matt. 9:37-38 NIV).
His disciples had thought that the actual harvest of souls, the actual
multiplication of Christ’s followers, would come in some future time—after four
months. Our Lord, knowing what they were
thinking, said most clearly, “No, not at some future time but now. The fields are white to harvest. If you wait, the ripened grain will fall to
the ground and rot. Ripe fields must be
reaped now. These sheaves must be
carried into the master’s barn now.
Bringing in one sheaf every ten days is not what God wants. He wants a sheaf every two minutes. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest to
send laborers—many laborers—into His harvest.”
This was the situation even before His followers had rightly understood
the Christian message, even before the Holy Spirit had descended upon them,
even before the Lord Jesus had died on Calvary.
These words of our Lord are much more applicable today here in North
Carolina and across the world then they were there in Samaria nearly 2,000
years ago. These words are not only
applicable; they should be understood as a command to reap ripe fields.
When we disobey this command, we disobey our Lord. He said, “Look on the ripe fields”. We look elsewhere, maintaining that there are
many other tasks, such as caring for the existing flock, training future
ministers, and working for brotherhood and justice, that are much more
important than bringing in sheaves of ripened grain. This passage is not often thought of as a
command to evangelize effectively, bringing multitudes of reborn men and women
into a living relationship with the triune God.
Christians today in many Branches of the Church are doing many good
things, but alas, too few of them are girding themselves with sickles and ropes
and bringing in a sheaf every two minutes.
This is a significant crisis acting today’s church and all its
seminaries.
The New Testament is full of passages which indicate the steady purpose
of the triune God to make the gospel known throughout the entire world and to
institute a new kind of life based on complete obedience to Him, a complete
surrender of self to Christ, and a mighty multiplication of Christian
congregations.
Turn, for example, to the Epistle of Paul to the Romans: “Through him and for his name’s sake, we
received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to
the obedience that comes from faith” (Romans 1:5 NIV). The whole epistle which has so frequently
been treated as a summary of essential Christian doctrines contains an essential
doctrine frequently overlooked. Paul in
chapter one, verse five, says that he has been called of God “to call people
from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from Faith” (NIV). Now the Greek words for Gentiles are ta
ethne—the peoples, the tribes, castes, segments of society, urbanites and
ruralites. Paul declares that he has
been called of God to call all the peoples of the world to the obedience that
comes from faith. That is God’s command. Doing that is essential Christian
conduct. No one can be a good Christian
who does not engage in this enterprise.
God intends that all men shall have the opportunity to accept Jesus
Christ as God and Savior. The only way
that this can happen is for Christians everywhere to consider the extension of
the gospel, the winning of men and women to Christ, and the multiplication of
living churches as God’s command.
Eternal God
Commands Church Growth
Not only does the Epistle to the Romans begin in this fashion, it also
ends by stressing church growth. Look at
the 16th chapter and the 25th to 27th verses:
“Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the
proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden
for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic
writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all ethne might
believe and obey him—to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus
Christ! Amen (NIV).”
This is a magnificent ascription of praise to God. It ends with the words, “to the only wise God
be glory forever through Jesus Christ!
Amen.” Paul, in this wonderful
passage, piles word on word and phrase on phrase until the whole gleams and
shines in the sunlight. However, if we
go back and read the passage carefully, we shall find a most effective command
to evangelize the whole world. I lay
before you the exact quotation. I shall
leave out some qualifying words and phrases.
“My gospel…hidden for long ages past…but now revealed…by the command of
the eternal God, so that panta ta ethne might believe and obey him.”
This closing passage unquestionably indicates that eternal God Himself
has commanded that the gospel be made known to panta ta ethne, leading
them to “believe and obey Him.” Wherever
Paul went, urged on by this command of eternal God, he proclaimed the gospel,
won men and women to Christ, and multiplied churches. His letters almost always went to churches,
not individuals. In Philippi he won not
only Lydia, that seller of purple, but the jailer and his family and many
others. He did not write to Lydia or the
jailer. He wrote to “all the saints in
Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons,” i.e., the
whole congregation (Philippians 1:1 NIV).
Eternal God’s command voiced in
Romans 16:26 echoes what Paul Wrote in Romans 1:5 and is a most essential part
of the entire epistle. Indeed, it may be
considered the driving force behind the epistle. Paul’s entire life was lived in obedience to
this command. Eternal God Himself
commands that the gospel be made known to all the peoples of earth. Since it is impossible to imagine that
eternal God commanded this to Paul only and to no other Christian, we are
forced to the conclusion that God sent His Son, the Word made flesh, precisely
so that panta ta ethne, all the peoples of the world, should be led to believe
and obey Him, and thus be saved. God
wants His lost children found and lays this command firmly on His redeemed in
all times, in all places.
While Paul does not say to the Romans, “You as individuals and as
congregations must engage in world evangelization,” surely such a message is implied
in these two and other passages in the Book of Romans. All Christians march under this command. What they do will, of course, depend very
greatly upon the circumstances in which they find themselves; but that command
which energized the lives of the apostles must also energize the lives of all
Christians and certainly all students and professors in divinity schools
throughout the world.
It is certainly natural that Christians in all places and all ages
should think of proclaiming the gospel to panta ta ethne as something
beyond their own capacities.
Nevertheless, all great revivals of the church have rested back on first
one man and then many, hearing and then obeying this command. In the days of William Carey, very few, if
any, Christians in the British Isles thought of world evangelization as
commanded by God. Then William Carey
heard this command. When he voiced his
convictions that God was commanding His Church to proclaim the gospel to all
the peoples, he was sharply rebuked. A
noted leader of his communion turned to him in open meeting and said, “Sit
down, young man. When it pleases God to
evangelize the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine. Sit down.”
Fortunately, William Carey obeyed God rather than this misguided elder,
and the entire history of the world began to change.
Eternal God’s command so clearly voiced in the passage we have
considered must today be heard and obeyed.
The process may well start with divinity schools where the future
leaders of the Christian cause are trained.
As seminaries, individual Christians, congregations, and other Christian
organizations hear this command, they will turn their attention to the enormous
fields white to harvest—the great urbanizations rising in every land, the
thousands of unreached peoples from among whom very few, if any, have become
Christian, and the increasing millions of secularists, materialists, agnostics,
and atheists.
The Ultimate
Authority Commands Worldwide Discipling
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me. Therefore go and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:18-19).
How striking it is that the New Testament records that not only does
eternal God command world evangelization, but the risen and reigning Lord does
also. He says, “All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me.” What
overwhelming authority! What He is about
to say does not come from the carpenter of Nazareth or from the itinerant
preacher, going up and down Palestine not knowing where he was going to sleep
that night. It does not even come from
the atonement for sins, dying on Calvary.
It comes from Him to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been
given.
What is this Ultimate Authority going to say? Is He going to say, “Love the Lord your God
and your neighbor as yourself?” That
certainly is an important command, but He doesn’t say it. Is He going to say, “Go to church and worship
God?” That also is important. But He doesn’t say it. What He does say is, “Therefore matheteusate
panta ta ethne.” Matheteusate is a verb in the imperative. It means enroll in my school or enlist in my
army or incorporate in my body the Church.
Panta ta ethne—panta means all, and ta ethne means
the peoples, the tribes, the castes, the segments of society everywhere. All are to be discipled.
When the Bible was translated into English in 1611 by order of King
James, the missionary concern of the Protestants in northern Europe was
minimal, or more accurately, nonexistent.
Consequently, they translated this passage as “Go ye therefore, and
teach all nations.” The more accurate
translation is “Disciple all the peoples, all segments of society
everywhere.” The Ultimate Authority in
the universe commands this; it is clearly incumbent on all Christians to obey
it.
This was the command which motivated the Student Volunteer
Movement. John Mott, Robert Speer, and
Robert Wilder, hearing this command, framed the battle cry of the Student
Volunteer Movement as “the evangelization of the world in this
generation.” The Student Volunteer Movement
has faded; but the command still rings out clear and unequivocal. It should be taught by all divinity schools
to all ministers in training.
Liberal Christians in the past half century have consistently denigrated
this command. Some have maintained that
it was never spoken by the risen Lord but was added by an editor perhaps as
late as A.D. 110. However, all those who
believe that the Bible is the inspired, authoritative, true, and utterly
dependable Word of God still hear it as our Lord spoke it—disciple all the
peoples of planet earth. This command
sends them to multiply churches in the towns and cities where they live and the
unreached billions in the whole earth.
It is important to realize that the Lord Jesus is not here giving a
suggestion to His followers. He is not
making a recommendation. He is not
saying, “Do this if you find time or if it is financially feasible.” He is not saying to divinity schools, “Please
squeeze this in as an elective.” He is
issuing a command—disciple all the peoples of earth.
This task today is largely undone.
Not only are there more than 150 million in the United States who have
yet to be won to ardent Christian faith, but there are 3 billion unwon in the
world, and by the year 2000 there will be at least 4 billion. Unless Christians listen to and obey this
command, they cannot be fully Christian.
One has only to listen to the television broadcasts to realize that we
do not live in Christian America, we live in a secular, materialistic, indeed
an almost pagan America in which practicing Christians are a minority. True, at present we are an influential
minority, but unless we obey this command at home and abroad, we may soon
become a much smaller and less influential minority.
On this point we would do well to listen to the Rev. Mark Christensen of
the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church. He
says:
“It is becoming increasingly clear that an enormous shift toward a
secular culture is taking place in America today…There is an enormous need to
relate to the unchurched in a manner and method that makes sense to them.”
Kevin Perrotta, a Roman Catholic who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan,
writes: “The integrity of Christian
belief, life, and mission is at stake in the contemporary conflict between the
gospel and secular culture…Our own time is marked by widespread rejection of
historic Christian beliefs…The deep anti-Christian trends of our time (must be
combated by all Christians).” Both these
quotations emphasize that theological seminaries must devote considerable time
to teaching and evangelism which will prove effective in an increasingly
secular and materialistic civilization.
There is no time to lose.
Seminaries must act now.
The Apostle Paul
Commands Winning as Many Unbelievers as Possible
The fourth command to which I would direct the attention of theological
seminaries and ministers and all practicing Christians is found in 1
Corinthians. It reads as follows” “I try to please all men in everything I
do…that they may be saved. Be imitators
of me as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:33-11:1 RSV).
I Corinthians 9 and 10 is usually thought of as Paul’s comments on
eating meat offered to idols, and, of course, he is talking about that. However, what guides the entire thought of
these two chapters is the conviction that all Christians should be all things
to all men, in order to win some. Paul
says this has been the guiding principle of his life, and then he commands all
Christians to imitate him in this respect as he imitates Christ. He says very clearly, “whatever the
circumstances in which you find yourself, even that of eating meat in a
friend’s house, make yourself a Christian witness, do not raise unnecessary
difficulties. Do not assume that your
jailer is your enemy. Address him as
your friend. Do not believe that only as
a free man can you preach the gospel.
Believe, rather, that when you preach it with chains on your hands and
feet, it is more effective than when you are free.”
This is not only Paul’s way of life but one which all Christians,
especially theological seminaries, should practice. It is at this point with a command voiced in
this fashion that the science of missiology today speaks most relevantly to all
Christians. The science of world
evangelization (which is what missiology is) says clearly, “If you are to
unde4rstood, you must speak the language of your listener. You must know his culture and speak from
within it. You must voice the message so
that it will make sense to him. You must
not sound like a Jew trying to make others into Jews or like an American trying
to bring others up to American culture and scientific achievement. No!
You must be all things to all men.”
To the urbanite masses in Mexico City you must speak from within their
culture, saying to them in effect, God has prepared a way of salvation for you,
living at your level, suffering your disabilities, surrounded by your
temptations, anticipating the rewards you anticipate. Begin walking in the way God has prepared for
you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
live as saved men and women. Whether you
live with chains on your hands and feet or free makes little difference, live
redeemed lives wherever you are.
To be sure, implicit in the gospel is the assurance that as ethnos
after ethnos is disciple, as society after society is Christianized,
tremendous advances in justice, brotherhood, peace, and good living will be
practiced and should be achieved. If we
want human improvement, nothing we can do will secure it as rapidly and as
effectively as discipling panta ta ethne. The colossal error of some misguided
Christians is to believe that we can have a just and egalitarian society
without men and women becoming believing Christians. The Bible gives no grounds for any such hope. Nor, for that matter, does human
history. Clear-eyed vision indicated
that until men and women are reborn, a great amount of moral advance is not
likely to occur.
Many Biblical
Passages Confirm God’s Command
As we consider the overwhelming purpose of the New Testament to
evangelize the entire world, we remember the many passages in which our Lord
assumes that these express commands will be obeyed. I will refer here to three. The first is, when our Lord was in Bethany at
the home of Simon, a woman brought an alabaster jar of expensive perfume and
poured it on His head. When His
disciples objected to this waste of money, He reproved them saying, “Whatever
the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be
told, in memory of her” (Mark 14:9 NIV).
Our Lord assumed that eternal God’s command would be carried out, that
all seminaries would teach effective evangelism responsibility, and the gospel
would be proclaimed in all the world.
There are many such passages.
The second important example is found in Matthew 11:28-30, where our
Lord said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden
is light” (NIV). He certainly was not
speaking only to those who were weary and burdened in the few dozens or
hundreds who were then listening to Him.
He was voicing His permanent, perpetual, worldwide invitation, to all
those of all cultures in all countries and all ages who are weary and
burdened. The Christian faith assumes
that it is the only true and full understanding of God’s plan for the entire
human race.
This is especially important in America today, where a brotherly
attitude toward all nations is held to be politically necessary. The science of anthropology frequently
assures us that all cultures are equal.
This makes it easy to assume that all religions also voice essential
truths. Some are possibly more exact
than others, but all religions are good for their adherents to follow. In reaction to the imperial era when Europe
ruled most of the rest of the world, democratic America is saying loud and
clear, your own ways are probably the very best ways for you.
Christians must think much more exactly.
While appreciating the good in other cultures, Christians must hear
Christ’s invitation to all those in all cultures and all religions who are
weary and burdened to come to Him and obey Him.
The Old Testament also has many passages which affirm that God the
Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, from the very beginning intended
all men to leave their idols and follow Him.
Let me mention just one passage.
In Genesis 12:3 God says to Abram, ”In you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed.” God wills the
salvation of panta ta ethne, all the peoples in every continent. God commands their evangelization.
All Seminaries and
all Christians Must Obey These Imperatives
God’s command to His Church to evangelize the world must be heard and
carried out by all components of the Church.
World evangelization must not be limited to missionary societies and
professional evangelists. These commands
are laid upon every Christian. “Imitate
me” was not written to Paul’s fellow evangelists. It was written to the Christian fellowship in
Corinth, to all its members, men and women alike. The entire body of Christ needs to hear and
obey the imperative to world evangelization.
An effective spread of the gospel should become a substantial part of
every seminary’s curriculum. Only then
will it become a part of family prayers in every Christian home.
This is of particular importance in theological seminaries. This is a part of a true and adequate
theology. Any knowledge of God, the true
and ever-living God, must give priority to His commands that all His lost
ch8ildren be found. They must be found
in all segments of society—the rich, the poor, the rural, the urban, the
literate, the illiterate, Americans, Africans, Asians, Europeans—all the lost
must be found.
The words panta ta ethne so often used must not be overlooked in
divinity schools. God clearly intends
that all segments of society in all nations of the world not only hear the
gospel but obey the gospel and become followers of the Lord. Some, maybe many, will hear and reject the
gospel. God has granted people free
will; He does not make them into automatons.
But He does want the Christianization of all segments of society. It is the high duty of the Church to work at
this enormous task. In this series of
lectures this truth will be constantly held in mind. It is from this perspective that we will view
current society, world history, and the duties and responsibilities of all arms
of the Church and especially of theological seminaries, both faculty and
students.
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