oi_antz
Opposed to Untruth.
This is not a realistic idea. Look at any farm (in this case, we are considering the diversity of all human kind), you will see that the ground changes drastically. Some areas are vast, fertile plains, others are vast desert, and even some fertile plains have rocky riverbeds running through them. Probably you could envisage this as cultural pockets of society.Another thought
Since writing my original post about the parable of the sower, another idea has come to me. When the sower scatters the seed, the aim is for all of it to fall on good ground. Not for it to be adversely affected by a path, rocks or thorns.
Edit: although, there is the wisdom to not cast pearls before swine. Though, in absence of the risk of having them trampled and being attacked by the swine, who are we to decide whether a person deserves to have seeds scattered or not? Remember that St. Paul described we sow and water, but it is God that gives the increase.
Please consider as I have described, that a strong plant, finding a crack in a path, will break up the path into rocky ground. I am sure that He does not view our efforts falling on deaf ears to produce no growth, a collateral damage. Of course it is cause for sorrow though.I am asking then, do the three unfruitful sites represent collateral damage?
There are different reasons why people will not respond to the gospel. There are people who are so deeply immersed in anti-Christian cultures that they are surrounded by birds who eat the seed before it gets a chance to germinate. There are people who have such thorny ground, that even if the seed falls there, the seed can sprout in the moisture, but the thorns will not allow it to take root at all, by choking it's roots and smothering the sunlight. It will not be allowed to grow. These are those whose sins are so valuable to them, their attachment to their sin will prevent them from ever allowing a plant to grow that will eventually eradicate their sin.Are they simply unfortunate consequences of spreading the good news of the gospel? Are these the people who will not find what they should in the Christian message? People who find the Christian message a disappointment?
You have a lot of insight. You should act on it. The people you are describing here seem to correspond to the ones I described earlier, who have thorny ground, that if someone is not careful in the way they deal with them, they can get hurt.You may respond that God would know who is ready to receive the gospel and who is not, and that God would know exactly how to approach each person. However, the gospel message is spread by people, people who are fallible and who may in their enthusiasm influence people who are not ready, leading them to think they are saved when they are not.
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