God’s Master Strategy

When Jesus walked through the towns and villages healing and preaching the kingdom of God he saw the crowds and was concerned for them. He saw that “they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). He felt a great burden for them because they were lost. They needed teaching, leading and guiding. And there were masses of them.

But rather than despairing or working more frantically, Jesus taught his disciples to pray. He didn’t tell them that the problems of the world rested on their shoulders. Rather he taught them to turn to God and to ask him to send more workers. “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matt 9:38).

This is an important perspective for those who feel the burden of ministry. Those of us who are busy caring for people, leading small groups, or serving in different ministries, often feel the burden of ministry and the pressure of time. You feel a burden for the people who need encouragement, who need discipling, who need a friend or a phone call. You wish you had more hours in the day or that you didn’t need as much sleep so you could get more things done.

Those of us who feel this pressure need to learn from the way Jesus responded to the great need of his own day.

The first thing we can learn is this: on our own we cannot solve the problems of our world. Each person can only do so much in a day. Working harder or longer will not necessarily achieve more. If we rely too much on ourselves, we will ultimately become a bottleneck in ministry and burn ourselves out.

Rather we should look to the Lord of the harvest. God alone has the power to reach the millions who remain lost and helpless without Jesus. Ministry does not depend on how much time or effort we devote to ministry. It all depends on the blessing of God within the time that he gives us. Rather than work harder, devote more time to prayer.

And what should we pray for? This is the second great lesson to learn. Jesus teaches us to pray for God to send more workers into his harvest field. The answer is found not in working harder or longer, it is in finding more workers. God’s strategy for reaching the world is ultimately to multiply the number of workers who will do the work of teaching and discipling. This is what we should be praying for.

A vital implication of this prayer is this: we should not devote all our time to meeting immediate needs or serving needy people. We should also give time to healthy people who are growing and who ready to be trained for ministry. Instead of spending all our time trying to multiply disciples, we should spend time trying to multiply disciple-makers. This will involve short term sacrifices, but it is a longer term strategy to which Jesus himself was committed as he spent time with the twelve. Be committed to raising more workers.

Learn from Jesus by taking the pressure off ourselves. Turn to the Lord of the harvest and ask him to send more workers. Focus your energy and prayer on raising up more workers so that more people can be reached for Jesus. This is how the nations will be reached (Matthew 28:18-20).