Reaping Into the Kingdom

Reaping Whats, Whys, and Hows

 In the last two blog posts, we covered cultivation and planting. Next comes reaping. Simply put, reaping takes place when you challenge friends to respond to the truth of God's Word. It is the natural result of cultivating and planting. If we cultivate in love and plant in God's truth, the result will be the challenge and joy of the harvest. (​Ecclesiastes 3:1–2, 2 Corinthians 9:6, Galatians 6:9)

Reaping a response to God’s truth involves an understanding of the difference between our job and God’s job in the reaping process.
Our job in the reaping process of evangelism is to:

1. Clearly and concisely present the Good News message about Christ.  
2. Call people to respond to that message.

God’s job in the reaping process of evangelism is to:

1. Convict the spiritually lost of sin and convince them of their need for right (righteous) living. (“He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” John 16:8)
2. Draw the spiritually lost to Himself. (“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” John 6:44)

This partnership with God calls for bold proclamation with prayerful dependence.

Skills That Need to Be Developed to Do Our Job
To fulfill our part of the reaping process there are two skills that can be developed to enhance our effectiveness.

1. Presenting the Good News.
2. Calling for a response.

Enhancing Our Reaping Skills—Presenting the Gospel
One of the hindrances to reaping is best expressed by this statement: “I would love to tell my peers about Christ but I don’t know how to share the essential elements of a Gospel presentation.”

I suggest starting by memorizing Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Do you believe it? Then, live it!

Enhancing Our Reaping Skills—Calling for a Response
Jesus was a master communicator when it came to getting individuals to respond to spiritual truths. He would often paint a word picture and then ask people questions that caused them to evaluate their spiritual condition. He always made space for their response.

Calling for a Response in Practice
You can use the same two steps to call for a response. First, paint a word picture, like this:​

Then, ask these questions:

1. Which life best represents your current relationship with God?
2. Are you living a Self-Centered Life or a God-Centered life?
3. Which life would you like to have?

In my next blog post, I'll show you a variety of ways reaping might look.

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Scott Christensen, Kairos Recruiting Director