Reason #8 Relying on Techniques

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. (Lk. 10:1-2)

Jesus is the Lord of the harvest. This should never be a mere propositional truth, it must be a truth reflected in the way we behave. If Jesus is the Lord of the harvest, he commands the workers. He is the one who has the critical information. He is the one who knows who is ready to listen, what they need to hear and how the gospel will spread from them to others. We could not possibly know such things, but because Jesus is the Lord of the harvest, and we can hear his voice, the information is readily available to us. Therefore our job is to pray, listen and obey. It is not to plan, decide and execute; with a little help from Jesus. This is ministry in the new covenant, where God speaks to our hearts and minds (Heb. 8:10). To do anything else would place us in the role of Lord and Jesus in the role of worker.

Contrast this with a common syndrome in the current Church, “technique addiction.” We seem to be convinced that if we can just learn the newest technique, read the best books, go to the latest seminar, be trained in the best methods, we too can have harvest success. Really? Think this through. In that scenario who is in the driver’s seat? Who is making the decisions? Whose intelligence is being brought to the fore? Should we really have more faith in the current human expert than Jesus himself?

Does this mean that I believe that techniques and methods have no value? Actually I think they have great value as long as they are used under the direction and Lordship of Jesus. Look at the following two scenarios to discern the difference:

Scenario #1:

Church planter Bob has tremendous success planting simple churches in a certain area. We are impressed with the fruit of his ministry. Bob is clear on how his method works. He develops a training seminar, trains everyone in a series of techniques then sends them on their way. Usually this results in the second generation not bearing the same fruit that Bob bore.

Scenario #2:

You pray, listen and obey. You have gone to different training seminars, but your faith is in Jesus and his ability to communicate with you; to lead you into the harvest. In a given situation Jesus reminds you of a technique learned from Brother Bob. You confirm through abiding prayer that Jesus wants you to use this technique in this particular situation. So you obey Jesus. You are praying, listening and obeying the Lord of the harvest.

In both situations you have used a technique suggested to you by Brother Bob. But Bob isn’t the Lord of the harvest, nor is anyone else. That is Jesus’ role. My point is this; if Jesus tells you to do something, do it. But fruit comes from prayer, abiding and obedience; not tried and true techniques. If you allow Jesus to be the Lord of the harvest, he may tell you to use Brother Bob’s techniques one time, Ann’s insights the next, and the following time, he may give you something completely unique for the situation. Let him decide this, it is not your place.

My experience is that apostolic ministry under the lordship of Jesus follows the “pattern” of Lk. 10 (finding the man of peace and planting the church in his “household”) yet it is different every time. That is the wonder of having Jesus as Lord, and working with his divine intelligence rather than the genius of man. Just keep in mind:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
       neither are your ways my ways,”
       declares the LORD.

  “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
       so are my ways higher than your ways
       and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa. 55:8-9)

 Let’s learn to function in apostolic simple church planting on a plane that is higher than the heavens are from the earth. Let’s learn a way of ministry which is based on higher ways and thoughts than our mere mortal techniques, methods and plans. Then we will see the power of having Jesus as Lord of the harvest.

For more posts on the practicalities of simple church planting, read all of the post in this series Why Simple Churches Don’t Work as well as: Four Keys to Church Planting, Building on the Right Foundation, Starting on the Wrong Foot, and Ministry with Jesus as Lord.

  • Why do you think we have more confidence in human techniques than in our ability to pray, listen and obey?
  • Do you think if we follow Jesus as Lord of the harvest we will fall into the Lk. 10 pattern every single time?
  • What would be the most effective way of learning to live like this?
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