Get some "Sowin' Goin'"

A couple of years back, I was living in the midst of the "self-help" craze that was (and still is) gripping America and Americans who were, and still are desiring to be "self-made" millionaires.

I won't name the name of the speaker I heard because that's not important to this, my initial entry in the new blog endeavor I'm working on, and you are quite graciously reading.

However, in one of his more popular seminars, the topic he was speaking on was essentially amassing personal wealth and happiness.  Now this man, in the eyes of the world, certainly had proven through much practice and practical application of timeless truths, that what he was selling was valuable information for the person who would apply it to their own lives.

And he was quite familiar with scripture...  In fact, his father had been a minister and brought him up in a home that proclaimed Jesus as Lord and Savior.  What is interesting to note here is that the fact that the family considered themselves to be Christian "believers" did not necessarily mean that they understood everything they professed to believe in...

And here's the point I've been working toward...  As it was referenced by Todd Friel on Way of the Master Radio (40m 45s) earlier today, hermeneutics - [herman - oo - ticks]  (def. The art and science of interpreting scripture.) is very important when attempting to determine what the writers of Biblical Scripture were trying to convey.  Without it, more often than not, makes for a doozy of a message when a speaker or teacher is using the Bible in order to make a point or teach a lesson.

If you've clicked on the link above and listened to the sound clip I've referenced, you'll begin to see where I'm going with this, starting... now...

The speaker who was teaching me the seven steps to wealth and happiness began talking about a "story" in the Bible.  He remarked that the bottom line to achieving success in this life is that you need to "get some 'sowin' goin'"  Isn't that pithy?  I mean, it rhymes AND it makes a statement...  And if you are familiar with scripture, or have paused for more than 30 seconds while channel surfing on a Sunday Morning during the hours of televangelism, you might have caught the term "SOW" in there...

Well, he was referring to the Parable of the Sower found in the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible.  And he was suggesting to the group of us that was listening, that, if we wanted to have everything we ever wanted to have, we needed to "sow the seeds."  Again, if you are familiar with the message of many of America's churches today, that sounds like a very well-known message being preached by some of the most famous names in modern-day Christendom.

To digress back to the importance of proper and accurate hermeneutical practice, it is important to note that The Parable of the Sower was not a parable that dealt with man's ability or inability to "Reap a healthy harvest."  Jesus was speaking in reference to God's Kingdom...  Many times throughout the Bible, the Word of God is referred to as the "seed" and in this particular parable, those who are sent by God (anyone who is "in Christ") to "sow" that seed are the "sowers."  Had the speaker just read 10 more verses, he'd have found that out for himself...

Christ was not teaching His followers how to reap great rewards here on Earth, he was stressing the importance of preparing the heart of the hearer for the planting of the seed which is the Word of God.  So many times, we hear of people who remark that they've "tried Christianity" but that it "just didn't work for me" and what is discovered through the course of the conversation is that the soil of their heart was never plowed up by the preaching of the Law. 

Therefore, after they were given assurance of their salvation and their place in heaven by the preacher or evangelist on the other side of the TV screen, when they went back to their lives outside of the pretty music and the warm and fuzzy "Jesus just wants to be your cuddly-wuddly divine boyfriend in the sky" type of message - there has been no conversion of their heart...

Either, "the birds came and devoured" the seed that was sown, or "the thorns sprang up and choked them."  Their friends, family, lifestyle, job, etc... reality of who they really are, all came back to them, and without doing what the Bible REALLY says they should do - they fall back into the life of sin they were already living in before they heard the message they believed saved them into everlasting life - and now they've been told that if God saved them, they could never be "un"saved...

They go on living their lives of sin, believing God one day saved them, therefore, they are bound for heaven even though there is no true evidence of any genuine repentance in their lives.

So I agree, we do in fact, need to get some "Sowin' Goin'" - however, NOT for the reasons that the speaker gave...  Rather, because the Word of God is being corrupted in order to sell a product that is not going to reward its hearers with everlasting life, but rather, everlasting torment.

If we, as God's mouthpiece, are telling people that they need to strive for a "better life" rather than reconciliation with Him for the sins that we've all committed against His holy Law, then we are doing the same disservice that the Pharisees were doing when Jesus rebuked them in the Gospel of Luke when He said, "woe to you who keep God's words"

Let us get some "Sowin' Goin'" and share God's Word with people the way it was intended to be shared, truthfully, accurately, in love...  Sure, it WILL sting, but a trip to the dentist's office isn't supposed to be fun, neither is looking at yourself the way God looks at you...  

My goal in putting together this blog is definitely NOT in the pursuit of personal glorification, neither is my intention to simply post aimless ramblings.  I honestly do not know what it is that I should write, however, perhaps someday, someone might trip over some of these thoughts as they are wandering through cyberspace, and find themselves challenged, or even encouraged to sit down and take an account of their lives.  The type of person they've been, the things they've thought about or said, and consider those things in the light of God's Law...

And then ask themselves, "If I were to die today, am I absolutely positive that I would be going to heaven?"  And does the answer to that question concern me - or bring me comfort?

In my particular case, that question caused me to look at myself in the mirror of God's Moral Law, to see that I was, in fact, the filthiest wretch I knew...  And if I were to die that night, I would, at that point in time, have gone straight to hell.  Because no matter what I thought of myself, or called myself, I was not a Christian.  When I was honest with myself I concluded that I was one of the people Christ was referring to in Matthew Chapter 7, when He said that He would say to those who would come to Him in the Day of Judgment, claiming to be His, "depart from me, I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness."

My desire is that no one I know, or should ever meet again, should ever hear those words without first hearing His Word spoken to them the way He Himself shared it with those who would humble themselves and hear His Words...

May God Bless you and keep you - until next time...

-The Sower

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