Don't Assume

I have read Jesus' "Parable of the Sower" hundreds of times in my life (see Mark 4:1-9 and Luke 8:4-8) and listened to numerous Bible Studies and Sermons on the subject as well. I always understood that the "good soil" was the Christian...and that the "wayside," the "stony ground" and the "thorny ground" were different levels of un-saved people out there who came in contact with the Gospel. Did you too?

Well, I got a new perspective. Every single one of the 4 types of soil can be attributed to Christians as well! (It can also be attributed to the same Christian over different periods in his/her life).

• A church-going, Bible-reading, typical Christian can be the "wayside:" where birds eat the seeds up. A Christian can allow other influences to completely devour the Truth that God is trying to instill in us before it ever even takes root.

• A church-going, Bible-reading, typical Christian can also be the "stony ground:" without much earth so the seeds grow a little but then die. A Christian can hear the Truth, meditate over it and apply it, but eventually forget or become callous again...so that acquired Truth takes no lasting effect in our lives.

• A church-going, Bible-reading, typical Christian can be the "thorny ground:" where the seeds take root and grow, but thorns grow with them and eventually chokes the Truth to death. A Christian can receive God's Truth, apply it and live accordingly...but also have other habits/mindsets/influences that grow alongside God's Truth in us, and eventually overpower the Truth that has been in us.

I think that often times we, as Christians, read this Parable and never really see it as Truth for ourselves; we just apply it to others out there. But this Parable is a caution for us as well. What type of soil am I? What type of soil are you? This chapter applies very much to Christians.

As Francis Chan wrote in his book, Crazy Love: "My caution is this: Do not assume you are the good soil."

*Chan, Francis. Crazy Love: Overwelmed by a Relentless God. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2008.