In Matthew 13, the Lord Jesus tells a parable of a farmer who sows seed. In it, He gives us keys to spreading the gospel. In verse 4, Jesus says, “As he (the farmer) was scattering his seed” The main activity of evangelism is scattering seed. The farmer wasn’t concerned specifically with where each seed fell. His job was simply to scatter seed on the ground where it could grow. Now that doesn’t mean we should be careless and unthinking in our evangelism. The farmer, however, wanted to get the seed out to as much of the ground as possible.
The other key to understanding seed sowing is that we never know whom God is speaking to and what condition of heart (soil) the listener or reader has. In verse 23, the Lord says, “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it.” The farmer didn’t know where each seed would fall, but, invariably, some of the seed found good soil.
The internet is an excellent place to scatter the seed. Billions of people are now searching for answers online, and we must be there to spread the gospel. We don’t know who is watching or reading, and we must acknowledge that God (who cares infinitely more about souls than we do) can lead a seeker right to where they will meet Jesus in honesty and clarity.
I recently read of a young woman in college who had deep questions about life. She had no time or interest in church or God, but she couldn’t let go of the burning questions within her. While visiting a friend at another university, she saw a student wearing a T-shirt that had the address of a website. The Lord wouldn’t let that website get out of her mind until she finally visited it. There she learned who Jesus is and what He has done for her. Without ever stepping into a church building or attending an outreach event, she found salvation. Did she find it in a website? No, she found it in the person of Jesus: the way, the truth, and the life, but the pathway to finding Him was online.
While social media focuses on building two-way, open relationships, there are many ways that we can reach the lost online. Here are four seed-sowing tools to consider:
Evangelism websites:
A website with appealing, attractive content is an excellent starting point for spreading the gospel. Many countries do not allow Bibles or the gospel but a website often can cross these boundaries.
Email newsletters:
This is a great way to send out the good news. Make your emails interesting by speaking on relevant, up-to-date events and topics.
Podcasting:
This technology is becoming more and more popular as people move to mainstream audio and video. Podcasting is simply providing a channel (like on your TV) of audio messages that can be easily downloaded to a person’s computer or mobile device.
Twitter:
While Twitter is not as big as Facebook, it’s growing rapidly as a key tool to publish content. 140 character messages can be sent, and, as people search for your topic, they can start to follow you.
As we have already noted, there are many great methods of sowing the gospel seed outside of the web—methods that have been used effectively for the Lord’s glory for centuries. But why not learn a bit more about these newer tools and consider them for your own personal evangelism as well as for your local church or ministry? There’s a new harvest of souls searching for answers. What can you do to scatter seed their way?