In the eighth chapter of his Gospel, Luke recounts a parable that Jesus told about a man sowing seed in a field. There's a good chance that you know this story, because it's one of the most famous in the Bible, but just in case ...
A man sowed high quality seeds and a lot of them fell on good, deep soil, but some were dropped on the path, others fell among weeds and yet more on shallow soil. What was on the path was just eaten up by birds straightaway; that in the shallow earth on the rocky ground grew quickly, but withered and died when the sun became hot; what was trying to grow between the weeds just got overwhelmed by the stronger plants. What landed in the good ground, though, went on to produce a large harvest of much more grain than was planted in the first place.
Do we sometimes not do things because it might not all work out the way we intend? "I'm not planting my seed in that field, because part of it's rocky, there's a big path down the side and there are some patches of weeds." Or, "I'm not using that field until I have an automated device which will identify rocky soil, weeds and paths so that it can drop the seed only in the good soil." We live in the society we do today in the UK because people before us, like Timothy, Titus, Polycarp, Chad and many, many more who are well-known and unheard of, were willing to tell others about Jesus, not knowing what the response would be.
I don't like to think of the gospel as being marketed, because it isn't spread for commercial gain, but the principles are similar. Advertising isn't directed just at those who are going to end up buying the product. People tell their friends about the exciting presents that they've received for their birthday, even though the hearers might not share in that excitement personally, because their interests are very different. Jesus healed ten lepers on one occasion (Luke's Gospel, chapter 17, verses 11-19), but only one came back to say thank you and become one of his followers; he didn't find out which one was going to be greatful in advance and heal just him.
If you're a Christian, the best present that you've ever received is salvation and freedom through the death and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus. That's pretty exciting and something that you're likely to want to tell people about. But how many Christians do you know and how many have tried to explain to you their excitement about knowing Jesus? God generally doesn't come into our conversations, if most of us are honest about it. Is it because we're not really excited about him, or is it because we'll talk about him when we're in the right environment that has been set up for the purpose? Otherwise we might be intruding into people's lives.
Fortunately for us, that isn't the approach that the evangelists had who first brought the message of the gospel to these isles. Jesus tells us that the seed of the word of God needs to be sown everywhere and where the soil is good it will take root, so the hearer will then produce a good harvest. Where the soil is bad or not ready, nothing much will happen, but that's not our problem. As Paul writes, he sowed and Apollos watered, but it's God who gives the increase (Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 6). The hurting world around us needs to know about Jesus as their saviour, healer and Lord, the Holy Spirit as their companion, teacher, empowerer and comforter, and the Father as their own compassionate and loving Heavenly Father. We have the seeds to sow and the water to nourish them - then God can make them grow.
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