According to the 2020 US Census, there are 31,358 people who live in the same zip code as the Karns church of Christ. Only 167 of them, including children, are members at Karns. That means around 0.5% (including children) of our community is regularly hearing the Gospel. Of course, some may attend other faithful congregations in our area, but this is the general lay of the land.
After Jesus concluded his conversation with the Samaritan woman, the disciples returned to bring him food. Jesus refused their offer and instead mysteriously declared, “I have food to eat you do not know about” (John 4:32). Like many other times, the disciples take Jesus literally and miss the spiritual meaning. What Jesus means is what satisfies him is to do the will of God and accomplish his work (4:34).
As the Samaritans approached Jesus and the disciples from the village of Sychar, Jesus declared, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest” (4:35). The harvest was not some “four months” away as people might say, the harvest was before them and made up of an unexpected group of people: the Samaritans.
A field lays before the church of Karns. Some need to be planted, others are ready for harvest, but whatever the circumstance: workers are needed. I suspect that wherever you are the situation is the same. Our communities are largely composed of lost people. We will not be able to save them all, as Jesus himself suggested in the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13). What we can do is (1) look up and recognize that there is a harvest, (2) do the will of God, and (3) accomplish his work in this world.
The fields are white for harvest. Are you ready to go into the harvest and reap souls for the Lord?
By Spencer Clark
