When Hearts Are Ready: What the Parable of the Sower Teaches About Evangelism

By Pastor Rick Warren

Jesus gave us a parable to explain why some people respond to the Good News and some don’t. It is the parable of the four soils — and it’s so important that God put it in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. When Jesus repeats something three times, he is saying, “Don’t miss this.”

In the parable, the farmer scatters seed — and it falls on four different kinds of soil. Jesus tells us plainly:
The seed is the Good News, and the soils are four kinds of human hearts.

And out of those four soils, three are unreceptive. Only one — the good soil — receives the word and multiplies it 30, 60, even 100-fold.

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The Four Levels of Receptivity

 

1. 1. Hard soil — the closed heart
      “Don’t talk to me about God. I’m not listening.” Nothing takes root.

1. 1. Shallow soil — the impulsive heart
      Quick emotion, quick decision — but no depth, no roots, no staying power.

1. 1. Weedy soil — the distracted heart
      “I want Jesus — but I also want success, comfort, romance, money.” The worries and wealth of life choke the word.

1. 1. Good soil — the receptive heart
      They hear it, receive it, and it reproduces. You don’t get one kernel back from one kernel of corn — you get thousands.

Jesus’ first lesson is very simple:

Three out of four people around you are not receptive at any given moment. Don’t be surprised by that. It doesn’t mean they will never be receptive — it just means not now.

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Your Job Is Not to Make Soil Soft

It is not your job to make someone open to the Gospel.
Jesus said not to waste time “casting pearls before swine” or “banging on closed doors.”
Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered — but God made it grow.”

It is the Holy Spirit’s job to prepare hearts. Your job is to recognize when they are ready — and sow there.

If the fruit is ripe, you don’t have to yank it. It falls off.

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So how does God turn hard soil into soft soil?

He sends a storm.

“You send showers of rain to soften the soil…” (Psalm 65:10)
“Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways.” (Proverbs 20:30)

People don’t usually change when they “see the light.” 

They change when they feel the heat.

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Pain is God’s megaphone

When people are in pain — emotional pain, relational pain, financial pain, mental pain — they are far more receptive to God.

C.S. Lewis says, “God whispers to us in our pleasure. He shouts to us in our pain.” 

Remember the story of Jonah? Pain was his wake-up call! Jonah is going the opposite way of God. He gets swallowed by the great fish and is taken to the bottom of the ocean. In Jonah 2:7, one of my favorite verses, he says, “When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord.”

What’t the lesson? The most receptive people in your church, in your neighborhood, in your community, where you work, and the people you should be witnessing to are the people in pain. 

That’s why I have told pastors for years if all you do is focus on people in pain, you will build a church.

You don’t have to reach everybody — you can’t.

You reach the people the Holy Spirit has already prepared: the ones in pain.
Everyone eventually gets their turn in pain. When it comes, their heart will be open.

 

If you missed last week’s post, you can go back and read Spiritual Receptivity: Catching Fish When They’re Hungry.

For more resources on sharing your testimony, visit https://finishingthetask.com/believers/