What If the Harvest Isn't the Problem?

There's a powerful scene in Luke 10 that challenges some of the unspoken presumptions that go through believers' heads when it comes to evangelism.

Jesus is preparing to visit new towns, and before He goes, He sends out seventy-two disciples ahead of Him. Their mission? To announce that the Kingdom of God is coming near, and Jesus tells them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few."

There are a few reasons why this captures my curiosity...

The Heart of God for the Lost

Let's start with something foundational:

Jesus wants an encounter with people who don't know Him.

This isn't a casual interest or a divine afterthought. It's the reason He came.

Luke 19:10 says, "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

The incarnation itself—God becoming flesh—is the ultimate picture of Jesus crossing cosmic boundaries to come near to humanity.

He didn't wait for us to clean ourselves up or figure things out. He came to us.

Consider the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15. A shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to search for one that wandered off. When he finds it, he doesn't scold it or drag it back begrudgingly. He lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Jesus says there's more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who need no repentance.

1 Timothy 2:4 tells us God "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

2 Peter 3:9 adds that God "does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent."

The desire of God's heart is clear:

• He wants relationship with those who are far from Him,

• and He's not waiting for them to pursue Him, He is pursuing us.

We Are the Messengers

Here's where it gets personal.

Jesus sends us to tell people He's coming near.

Those seventy-two disciples were the heralds of His imminent presence. They went ahead to initiate the process, to let people know that Jesus was interested in them, that He was on His way to their town.

Today, when we open our mouths and tell people about Jesus, God uses us to facilitate an encounter between Him and that person. We're not just sharing information; we're ushering in the presence of the Kingdom.

And here's the beautiful part: Jesus sends us "before His face"—originally a Hebrew expression meaning "in His presence." We're not doing this alone or in our own strength. His presence goes with us as we go.

Romans 10:14-15 asks critical questions, that should reverberate in the halls of our hearts until we are rattled into action:

"How can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?"

The answer is clear: they can't. Someone has to go. Someone has to tell them.

That's us.

The Real Problem

So Jesus identifies a problem here:

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few."

Notice what He doesn't say.

• He doesn't say the harvest is small.

• He doesn't say people aren't ready.

• He doesn't say the culture is too resistant.

The problem isn't the harvest, it's the harvesters.

Jesus is saying: when it comes to reaching people with the Gospel, His greatest concern isn't with the hearers at all.

I won't deny that the world is often hostile and unreceptive to the Gospel. The scripture even speaks to this reality (John 1:10–11, John 3:19–20, Acts 7:51, 2 Timothy 4:3–4, Matthew 13:13–15, Isaiah 6:9–10, Romans 1:18–21). But I think Jesus' statement should compel us to reconsider those presumptions that run through our heads, and that we use as excuses for failures to launch in evangelism.

This truth should at the very least give us pause:

• Jesus was far less concerned with: how unwilling people would be to hear the gospel.

• Jesus was far more concerned with: how unwilling we would be to share it.

Often, we're tempted to think everyone's already heard. We look around at our churches and assume surely most other Christians are already sharing their faith. We look at cultural resistance and convince ourselves people just don't want to hear it anyway.

But statistics tell a different story. A significant number of people will come to church if invited, an alarming number of Christians report that they believe evangelism is wrong and of those who do believe in evangelism, very few have gospel conversations with non-Christians throughout the year.

The problem hasn't changed since Jesus first spoke these words.

We're still facing a labor shortage.

What If They Are Ready?

What if we're wrong about the harvest?

What if the people we assume aren't interested are actually ready to hear?

What if we stopped focusing on those who said no,

And started thinking about how many would say yes?

Consider this: even in a large metropolitan area, if just one percent of the population were ready to receive the gospel today, that would represent thousands of people. Who's going to tell them?

And here's something even more profound:

even when people aren't ready to accept the message, they still need to hear it.

Willing Harvesters

What if we decided that church planting and revitalization was a priority to us; not just on an organizational level, but personally and in our local church vision?

How would it impact the Kingdom of God on earth if every believer, every pastor, and every church, intentionally prioritized Church Planting and Revitalization in their vision-casting?

How might it revolutionize the impact and actionable power of this Harvesters ministry to plant and revitalize churches across New York state every one of us were to intentionally and continually support the vision of God for reaching the lost in unreached areas, by giving regularly to see that work accomplished?

When we give, we aren’t just funding programs; we’re sowing into the movement of God’s presence and the work of the Gospel across our cities, towns, and nations. Together, we ensure that the heart of God for the lost is embodied in new communities of faith and perpetuated works of grace in each new life and region.

If you believe in planting and revitalizing churches (and every believer should) I encourage you to consider giving to support the Harvesters ministry, a church planting and revitalization effort in New York state, sponsored by the Church of God.

The harvest is ready. Through our partnership, our prayers, and our generosity, we become the very answer to the harvester problem, and God's answer to the prayer Jesus told us to pray: “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field”