We think so often about the great commission which Jesus gave to the twelve to preach the gospel to every creature. Those taught were to do what Jesus had told the apostles to do—to go and make disciples of all nations and to teach those disciples to do the same. This is the nature of the gospel. We who have been taught must teach others about the Lord. That great commission has been passed down to us.
Our problem is that we tend to think that, while we want to teach others, we just cannot find anyone to teach. We are wrong! Think about the fact that the city, which more than any other city became followers of Jesus, was not found in Judea or Galilee. Though the disciples were with Jesus, they could not see anyone they could possibly teach in that city.
In John 4, we read of Jesus and His disciples in Samaria with His disciples. They left Jesus to go into the city to get food. Souls were all around them, but all they could see were food merchants. They viewed every Samaritan as spiritually unclean and not worthy of God’s favor. Outside the city, at Jacob’s well, Jesus was teaching an immoral Samaritan woman. If those in that city were seen as morally corrupt by the apostles, how much harsher was their judgment of this woman?
The Lord taught her. Look at what then happened. The woman left her water jar, went into the city and suggested to them she had found the Messiah (4:28-29). Many from that town believed in Him because of her (4:39). They came to Jesus and talked to Him. He entered this “unclean” city and taught for the next two days. “Many more believed because of His word” (4:41). They said, “We have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (4:42).
The disciples, like us, could not see the souls of those around them. They saw them simply as food merchants. Hear Jesus rebuke His disciples for thinking that sometime somewhere in the future they might find fertile fields. He said, “The fields are already white for harvest” (4:35).
You cannot find souls? Our problem is that we see merchants, not souls! Let me illustrate from what happened recently. A member of this congregation (Pearl) phoned to correct the name on her bill from Comcast. She talked to Carla and in the conversation brought up spiritual matters. She invited Carla to visit our services and Bible classes and continued teaching her. This past Sunday Carla was baptized into Christ. Why? Because a Christian did not see her as a merchant, but as a soul.
What about you? Are you seeing souls or merchants?