What are
Churches For?
III. The Church is a barn, where the seed is kept; later to be thrown.
“. . . with every head bowed, and every ah closed, as thousands ah still coming, let us have a word of prayah togethah . . .” For all who love Jesus, hearing Billy Graham say those words, and watching that scene on his televised crusades, always makes our hearts beat faster for joy! How God has used him, down through the years! Yet we would be making a serious mistake to think that he is the only one responsible for the evangelization of our generation!
In Matthew 13, Jesus told a couple of stories about a farmer, scattering seed in his fields. Jesus said that the hearts of people in the world, are like this farmer’s fields. Some are hard and trampled on; some are weedy; some are rich and fertile. And He tells how the Word of God is like seed, sown in the field. It goes out to people; it reaches the heart, and sometimes it sprouts and grows. But in a second story, with the same farmer-seed-field motif, He gives a new meaning. In this story, the field is the world of people, with their hearts and choices, like before. But He says that, this time, the seed is the sons of the kingdom ... you and me!
That explains a couple of things. Like a seed, you and I who have accepted Christ, look normal on the outside, but inside, we have life! Not only this, but like seed that’s thrown out all over the fields, between the rows and in the furrows, we’ll bring growth and life to the world, when we’re scattered out in it! We thank God for Billy Graham and how God has used him, but the majority of people who came to faith in Christ, don’t find Him at a crusade. Studies show that most people who become Christians in our society, don’t make this most important of decisions because of the appeal at crusades, or because of the influence of evangelistic TV, or through having read booklets. The overwhelming majority of people, who come to believe in Jesus, do so because of the impact of a friend, neighbor, or family member! They come when they see the love and life of God in someone they know ... in someone who cares!
Evangelism (sharing and explaining of the message of new life in Christ) doesn’t happen primarily in the church. This is why you don’t hear Gospel appeals every week. Evangelism happens when the seed (you and I) is scattered out into the fields (the lives you touch each day). All around us are hurting people, broken people, empty people. When you’re thrown out there among them, and the life inside of you is bursting through your “shell,” you’re right where God wants you...you’re where He’s “tossed” you!