Meandering in the Fields

As per previous posts, the 'Four Fields' model is a way of understanding our approach to witnessing and potentially starting something new. The work goes on and weeks tick by. For now we still find ourselves effectively in fields one and two.

A key thing to remember is that we don't get to control the timescales: this approach goes at the pace of the people we meet, albeit with our intentional encouragement for people to move towards Jesus! It is not a fixed programme, with set sessions or timescales. Nor does it revolve around inviting people to set events hosted by a church. No this is long and deep alongside investment in people with the gospel news & hope as our motivation.

But that also means that it is not straight-forward linear progress! We have to accept the reality of 'a step forward, a step or two back, plus many other steps sideways ...'. A person we perceived to be engaging might not continue with us down the track, or suddenly become unavailable for reasons unknown to us.

While these ups and downs are happening in the field two of gospel sharing, we are still meeting other new people: field one activity! That means we meander between the two fields from one day to the next, depending on what we are doing or who we are meeting. That is the nature of our work!

For those who like predictable outcomes it is a recipe for much frustration - but Jesus in His parable of the sower clearly implied a liberal scattering across the whole terrain. Sadly some seed will be lost and other seed may not thrive, but we continue with the meandering (yet intentional) process in the hope for that eventual crop that bears much fruit.