“Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.” John 4:36 ESV[1]
Read John 4:35-38 & Matthew 9:35-38
Several years ago, in a class I took, I heard an illustration equating evangelism and discipleship to the two wings of an airplane. The premise was, just as an aircraft must have two equal wings to fly, ministries must include both outreach activities and Biblical training sessions for those ministries to be balanced and effective. I related to that illustration and often referred to it as my team and we planned activities or evaluated the effectiveness of our ministry. But as time has passed, I have begun to see problems with this illustration.
You see, this illustration makes evangelism and discipleship seem like separate entities. Interestingly, the words evangelism and discipleship aren’t even found in the Bible. But, the work of an evangelist (2 Timothy 4:5) and the command to make disciples (Matthew 28:19) are. Besides one phrase–the work of an evangelist–being a noun and the other phrase–make disciples–being a verb, Biblically, they refer to the same thing; being intricately connected, they cannot be separated. Evangelists make disciples, disciples produce evangelists, and the pattern is repeated over and over. Every evangelist must be a disciple, and every disciple is, in some way, also an evangelist.
Jesus “called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal … and they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere” (Luke 9:1, 2 & 6, emphasis mine). To those same disciples, Jesus also commanded, “‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you’” (Matthew 28:19-20, emphasis mine).
Likewise, Paul taught Timothy, “’All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work’” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, emphasis mine). Paul also instructed Timothy, “’Always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry’” (2 Timothy 4:5, emphasis mine).
When we make evangelism and discipleship appear to be two separate tasks, we can fall for the lie that some people are called to do the one, some are called to do the other, and the majority are called to do neither. The truth is that, in some capacity, all believers are called to be both evangelists and disciple-makers.
You might be thinking, “Now just wait a minute, Ephesians 4:11 lists evangelism as one of the Spiritual Gifts? We do not all have the same Spiritual Gifts!” True, we do not all have the same Spiritual Gifts. Paul made this very clear. “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:27-31). But, as to whether evangelism is a Spiritual Gift, I will refrain from commenting. Many who are far more learned than I have and will continue to debate that.
Ephesians 4:11-16 actually proves my point that evangelism and discipleship are inseparable. “And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16, emphasis mine).
Apostle in Greek is apostelos. It means sent one, representative, or missionary. Prophet in Greek is prophetes. It means a foreteller; not necessarily a predictor of the future but one who speaks openly before anyone, and an interpreter of a divine message. Evangelist in Greek is euangelizo. It means one who declares the Good News. Shepherd is the same word as pastor; in Greek, it is poimen and means one who provides for and protects a flock. And teacher in Greek is didache and means to teach, instruct and tutor in doctrine.[2]
Evangelism and discipleship work hand in hand through those with differing responsibilities and giftedness. The Gospel message must go forth. It is imperative that message be heard, interpreted, and shared. It is necessary that the message of Good News be declared to more people so that more may believe. Those who believe the message need continuing care. And those believers require instruction and training per the original message. The progression from an evangelistic seed to a discipled mature harvest takes each of these respective and inclusive roles. These functions overlap. Every part’s goal is the final result, and every piece is reliant on the initial step.
Jesus puts it this way, “‘Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor'” (John 4:35b-38).
How can “the one who reaps … [receive] wages and [gather] fruit” unless seed has already been sown? How is it “that sower and reaper … rejoice together” unless they are both working for the same goal? How can the reaper “enter into [the] labor” of the sower unless both are necessary and dependent on each other?
“Yes”, you may say, “but Jesus mentioned a sower and a reaper. Doesn’t that imply separateness?” My answer would be, “Yes and no.” There are distinct roles but the same goal. “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). Personalities, giftedness, responsibilities, talents, resources, and placement differ among followers of Christ, but the call and the power to bring Him glory remain the same. We are all as unique as our fingerprints, but our hands are similarly shaped and are designed to work the task set before us for the good of all.
Let me give you another example. Even with modern scientific advancements, it takes both a male and a female to produce a child. The father has a much different, but no less necessary, role in the development of a fetus than the mother. The work the mother must do to bring forth the child is very different than the work the father performed in the conception of a child, but there would be no child if the father didn’t do his part. And even with modern ideas of what constitutes a family, it takes the influence of both male and female to bring a child to maturity. Once a child is mature, he/she, with the help of the opposite sex, has the potential of continuing the cycle of reproduction. And consider this: every male came from a female and part of what was necessary to create every woman was once in a man. Obviously, the opposite is also true, but my point is, regardless of personality, giftedness, responsibilities, talents, resources, or placement, every believer, through the power of Christ in him/her, has the potential to do both the work of an evangelist and the job of making disciples.
The second problem I see with equating evangelism and discipleship to the wings on an airplane is that this illustration makes the activities themselves the focus instead of the power necessary to achieve success in those activities. “Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest'” (Matthew 9:35-38, emphasis mine). Neither evangelism nor discipleship nor anything else in all of the Christian life is possible without prayer!
Oswald Chambers, in his classic devotional, My Utmost for His Highest, puts it this way:
“The key to the missionary’s difficult task is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer, not work— that is, not work as the word is commonly used today, which often results in the shifting of our focus away from God. The key to the missionary’s difficult task is also not the key of common sense, nor is it the key of medicine, civilization, education, or even evangelization. The key is in following the Master’s orders— the key is prayer. ‘Pray the Lord of the harvest …’ In the natural realm, prayer is not practical but absurd. We have to realize that prayer is foolish from the commonsense point of view … Jesus Christ … owns the harvest that is produced through distress and through conviction of sin. This is the harvest for which we have to pray that laborers be sent out to reap. We stay busy at work, while people all around us are ripe and ready to be harvested; we do not reap even one of them, but simply waste our Lord’s time in over-energized activities and programs. Suppose a crisis were to come into your father’s or your brother’s life— are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? Is your response, ‘Oh, but I have a special work to do!’ No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ’s own, ‘a servant [who] is not greater than his master’ (John 13:16), and someone who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls us to no special work— He calls us to Himself. ‘Pray the Lord of the harvest,’ and He will engineer your circumstances to send you out as His laborer.”[3]
What did Jesus immediately do after He instructed His disciples to “‘pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest'” (Matthew 9:38)? “He went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples and chose from them twelve, whom He named apostles” (Luke 6:12-13) “so that they might be with Him and He might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons” (Mark 3:14b-15). The Father answered Jesus’ prayer and provided workers for His harvest. Their obedience, possible only through the power of the Spirit and with the authority of Christ, bathed in prayer, repeated over and over, generation after generation, is the reason we believe today.
Our obedience, possible only through the power of the Spirit and with the authority of Christ, bathed in prayer, repeated over and over, generation after generation, will be the reason there will be Believers tomorrow. If we are searching for an illustration involving an airplane to describe the evangelism/discipleship process, perhaps a better example would be: evangelism and discipleship is the airplane; prayer is its wings. Or better yet, maybe we should rely on Jesus’ illustration and His command to pray. Within every seed is the potential for a great harvest and within every harvest are many seeds. Sowing and reaping work together to bring about a harvest. The fruit of one harvest is used as the seed for the next harvest, and the process continues. But it is God’s harvest, and He is the One who makes it grow. Pray to the Lord of the harvest.
[1] Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted.
[2] Definitions of these Greek words were taken from the “New Testament Lexical Aids” section of The Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible, New International Version, copyright 1996 by AMG International, Inc.