Luke 10
As I listen to the instruction of Jesus to his seventy disciples, I find it interesting that Jesus didn’t encourage his disciples to engage in persuasion, argument, apology, dispute, or demonstration. Often we spend much time in these verbal works with our families and friends to turn them toward the Lord. But it seems the disciples of Jesus were free from these works. Jesus ordered them simply to proclaim the kingdom of heaven: If people accept and welcome the Gospel, it is good and well. Otherwise, don’t worry about them. Just give them a warning. And move on. We might wonder if this approach would be effective at all. It might have worked for those ancient Jewish people, but it sounds too simple for the modern man. Don’t we need to develop a certain sophisticated and powerful argument to appeal to the modern man?
Those who have tried to encourage families and friends for faith will know our words most times do not work well, especially on the people who have something against God or the Church. Let’s not forget even Jesus couldn’t convert everyone he encountered during his ministry. On the contrary, he made lots of enemies.
In the meantime, I have met people welcoming the Gospel without my effort. All I have to do is to invite. There is no need for persuasion or argument. If there is to be any verbal work, it will be to explain faith as they ask.
Jesus says today, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.” He doesn’t ask to raise the crops. He asks us to gather the harvest. The Lord has already prepared people in mysterious ways. Reflect on yourself. Can somebody else develop my faith? Of course, many people influence our faith. But do they actually grow faith for us? Even if you love your son, you cannot grow his love for his fiancee, because love has to grow in the relationship between them. Likewise, faith can only grow in the relationship between God and me. Nobody else can grow it on behalf of me. It is the Lord who calls people to himself in mysterious ways. He prepares people for the harvest. When we invite them to the kingdom of heaven, they gladly respond.
Many people don’t have an opportunity to join the Church because nobody has invited them yet. There is still a plentiful harvest waiting to be gathered. There is no time for futile disputes and arguments. It’s time to proclaim and invite.
