What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 1 Corinthians 3:5-6
Most of us have read the words of this title in a piece of junk mail trying to lure us into a credit card account. I always wonder how, without ever seeing me or hearing from me, they could discern my worthiness to go into their debt. Whatever the mechanics may be, they obtained enough information about me to extend an offer to apply based upon certain assumptions about my credit worthiness. There is a lot of pre-screening done before the offer is extended. I have a couple credit cards tucked away from taking this bait, so I know it works. While this model works well in the credit industry, and it is acceptable under the law of our land, we as children of God must be careful not to apply this technique when we seek candidates for the gospel.
A longtime gospel preacher told of a door knocking campaign he once worked with the local congregation where he lived. His group was tasked with knocking the doors in the roughest neighborhood in town. They were apprehensive about going into the neighborhood, but they decided to set their preconceptions aside and do the Lord’s bidding. In other words, they determined not to pre-qualify who should hear the gospel.
There was a rundown old place in the back end of the community which gave our preacher friend even greater concern. His confession to us was, “I looked at that place and thought ‘whoever lives here surely wouldn’t care to hear what we say.’” He was so nervous about this place, when no one answered the door, he admitted he was relieved as he hung a bag of literature about the church on the door knob.
That evening, at the accompanying gospel meeting, a rather rough cut man walked into the assembly, held up the bag of literature and said in his gruff voice, “Who put this bag on my door”? Our preacher friend asked where he lived, and upon learning the address, hesitantly confessed to being the one who left it. The man’s response surprised everyone as he told them he had read the material and would be attending each night of the meeting. Sure enough, by the end of the meeting, the gentleman obeyed the gospel and was baptized into Christ. That was not the end though, as one by one he converted almost every member of his family.
If our preacher friend had followed his gut and pre-screened the man based on his external circumstances, he would never have knocked that door and never have left the material. As a result, not just one, but many souls would have remained lost in their sins. The principle of sowing the seed on every soil saturates the New Testament.
In John 4, Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman at a well. This seems common enough to us, but as she pointed out to Him, Jews had no dealings with Samaritans (John 4:9). Furthermore, Jewish men did not usually speak to women like He did (John 4:27). Paul once stood in the midst of hordes of idol worshipers and proclaimed the Christ to them in the city of Athens (Acts 17:16-21). Many of us would assume they did not want to hear it and say nothing. Paul gained the attention of the leading philosophers in the city and even converted some of them (Acts 17:22-34).
With these things in mind, let us determine never to assume any person will not hear the gospel, but rather let us go about our God-given task of sowing and watering; He will do the rest (1 Corinthians 3:5-7).