The Sower - Part II: Responses to Preaching

This parable shows us the four types of response to preaching. There are a couple of things that thinking about it, in the 21st Century requires us to say before we consider this parable.

1. Perspective: The parable is drawn from the perspective of those experiencing the preaching. For that reason we find no overt reference to God's sovereignty or the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion. Instead the whole thing looks as if our conversion is purely our work. We choose. We persevere by resisting temptation and so on. Human decisions have consequences and this is one of the passages we might agree that imply that reality. We note, however, that this is an implication, not the clear teaching of the parable.

2. The Devil: It is fashionable today to imagine the devil is a personification of evil, that he is not a real creature. This parable speaks of him as a real person; one who must be considered as such. He acts in this world, even though his power is limited by God. Again, this second element is not in view from the perspective of the parable.

The Parable
When the sower (the preacher) goes out to spread the Word of God there are four possible responses. Three represent the faulty responses, the last represents the expected one. They are: The effect of the birds, of the rocky soil, the weedy soil and the well-prepared soil.

1. The Birds of the Air We are told that the devil snatches the seed up before it has an opportunity to germinate. The preacher speaks to them, and they hear the words but they are unwilling to heed them. Like the Scribes and the Pharisees they have their own viewpoint on life and they are not prepared to even consider changing. If there was any likelihood of that happening the Devil makes sure they have answers for everything that might trouble their consciences and cause them to change. In our day and age these are those of whatever background for whom there is no impression made by evangelism or preaching, they know what they believe and the only result of the message given is to condemn them. They heard the Gospel and rejected it completely.

2. The Rocky Soil These are those who respond to the "altar call" or hear what is said in the preaching and respond enthusiastically. They even appear to be more Christian in their responses than those who are really born again. These are harder for people in the Church to deal with. They appear in all things to be genuine Christians. They talk the talk and appear to walk the walk. And, during times where there is no persecution, they may even continue for some time with the Church. It is the trials of the Christian life, however, that show the difference. Because they are not really rooted and grounded in Christ, they fall away.

3. The Weedy Soil These are less obvious in their profession of Christianity in the beginning. Like the seed which falls in the good soil their conversion is less flashy, it appears as genuine as the real thing. And like the seed on the rocky soil they appear genuine. The cares and worries of this world, however, eventually cause them to become offended at the Gospel and they leave. The thing that is upsetting to the Church about both of these responses is that they appear absolutely genuine in so many ways. Sometimes God will even use them to point out failings in our views of Christianity yet, in times of persecution one group will leave and the enticements of the world lead the others astray. Of both groups, however, we are warned: "They went out from us that it might be made manifest," says the Apostle John, "that they were not all of us."

4. The Good Soil These are those whose genuineness is marked by two things. They persevere to the end and they bring forth fruit. Now, while it is tempting to imagine that the fruit here is bringing others to Christ - and that, indeed, may be a result of their lives - what the parable has in view is the fruit of the spirit; Love, joy and peace and so on. It seems hard for those who are responsible to preach to be faced with the almost impossibility of detecting the genuine from the false conversions.

But we need to remember that it is the Lord who tries the heart. He it is who knows who are his and, without the spiritual gift given to the Apostles - who were able to see the heart of some of the new additions to the Church, we have to accept that there will always be some in the Church who are not true believers. This is designed so that we will not be discouraged should some depart from the truth, no matter how genuine their conversion appeared or how much progress they appeared to make in holiness.

Knowing, as we do, the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer we can be encouraged in our fight against temptation and persecution. We may not be able to stand against those arrayed against us, but (as the Apostle Paul reminds us) "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world."