Jump Start # 3883
1 Corinthians 3:6 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”
Here in Indiana these days the corn is growing tall in the fields. It’s getting as high as an elephant’s eye, is an old saying around here. In a couple of months, the farmers will begin harvesting the fields of corn. All of that connects us to our passage today. There is a partnership and a fellowship within the growth process. One plants. One waters. God causes the increase. To water without first planting is a waste of water and you’ll only make mud. To plant without watering will cause the new crop to dry up, wither and die without having a harvest. The planting goes first. There is an order to these things. The watering follows the planting. And, when all of that is done properly, God brings the growth. It’s not the sower who causes the growth. It’s not the one watering that causes the growth. It is God. But, God doesn’t do it alone. Without one planting and one watering, there will be no growth. This is a divine partnership with the Lord.
That’s the way it works with corn in Indiana and that’s the way it works in discipleship. Planting is evangelism. It’s sowing the seed. It’s teaching the lost. It’s conversions. One has to get the seed of God’s word into honest and good hearts. But, once that takes place, that new disciple needs to grow. He needs watering. He needs to learn about fellowship. He needs to understand why he needs to keep the charms of the world at a distance. Follow up teaching is what watering is about. Without that, the newly baptized person returns back to the world. And, sprinkled all through this is the work of God who causes the growth.
Some folks are good at planting. They can get people interested in the Gospel and take them through God’s expectations for them. In coffee shops, at work, in the neighborhood, those that plant are always on the lookout for someone to share the Gospel with. They are amazing. Yet, others excel in watering. They are good at getting those deep needed principles to the surface and making them easy to understand. In homes, in Bible classes, in sermons, those that water always seem to know the right way to answer questions and to keep people growing.
Now, here are some thoughts:
First, let us recognize that our efforts, whether planting or watering, amount to nothing had it not been for the Lord who causes the growth. God doesn’t do the work alone and neither do we do the work on our own. Together, hand in hand, the work is accomplished to the glory of the Lord. Be careful preacher of bragging about how large you made the congregation. Without God’s help, you couldn’t have done anything. At the end of the season, it’s not the tractor, nor the plow, nor the planter that brags about the great harvest that year. It’s the farmer using those tools that accomplished a bountiful harvest, giving thanks to God for the rain and the sunshine that caused the growth. We are but the tools of God.
Second, planting and watering are not in competition with each other. The way some talk, you get the idea that unless one is always planting, you are really not spiritual nor doing the work of God. Plant all day long, yet without someone following to water, those plants won’t make it. Which is more important? Both are. And, like a team, the one who plants and the one who waters, ought to work together. Good communication between them and using their talents to be best will allow God to give the greatest harvest.
Third, it’s hard to know if one is a better planter or a better at watering. Most do a bit of both, but in time, one learns where most of his ability and talents fit in. One should not be ashamed if he is better at watering than planting. It takes some doing to figure out which way one leans, planting or watering.
Last week, while in Tennessee, I stood at the grave of Robert Jackson, one of my heroes. What an amazing preacher he was. He had the unique ability to take something difficult and make it simple. He could do that in a short amount of time. Most stumble around, having to explain what’s wrong with all the theories out there before they address the topic. Some use the Jericho approach to preaching. They’ll march around a subject seven times before they go in after it.
Planting, watering and harvest—it takes the combination of all three for success in farming. It takes all three for success in parenting. It takes all three for success in discipling.
Find what you are good at and then get busy in the kingdom.
Roger