“The harvest is white.” Jesus said those words two thousand years ago and they are as true today as the moment He first spoke them.
Millions of people across the world breathed a sigh of relief as the political cycle in the U.S. came to a long awaited end this week. I have posted little on social media about either of the candidates—though I absolutely had my opinions—and I will not speak out regarding them now.
Despite this, there is one thing that has continually been burning in my heart throughout this entire election, and it is this: the harvest is white.
Many evangelical voters saw Hillary Clinton as a threat to the religious freedom of Christianity, and I do not disagree with them, but there is one thing that concerns me about the election of Donald Trump. In America, not only do we have one of the largest Christian populations in the world, but we are also without a doubt the most unhindered nation in regard to evangelism. Yet, despite these freedoms, we have one of the slowest growing Christian populations in the world! There’s something wrong with this picture.
So what is my concern regarding the election of Donald Trump? My concern is that the Christians in America will take their sigh of relief, thank God for religious freedom, and do absolutely nothing with it.
My concern for myself and for my brothers and sisters in Christ is that we may see this extended time of unhindered religious freedom as an extension of our time to sit back and relax rather than an opportunity to relentlessly pursue revival.
When this nation began, we saw an unprecedented level of religious freedom. And what was birthed from that? The Great Awakenings! These awakenings were led by men like John Wesley, George Whitefield, and Jonathan Edwards who were hungry not simply for a move of God, but for God Himself.
John Wesley famously said,
“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on Earth.”
Many look at Jesus words when he said, “The harvest is white” and they think, “It’s been two thousand years since Jesus said that, so we must still have plenty of time.” But the reality is that the harvest is white in every generation. We only have one generation to reach those who will live in this generation.
The average life span is somewhere around 70 years. That means we have roughly 70 years to reach an entire generation before it’s too late. This is why Jesus proclaimed, “The harvest is white.”
So what can we do? The first place to start is to pray. We can write articles like this one all we want and exhort people to get out and share the Gospel all we want, but I believe that an hour on our knees will do what one hundred articles cannot.
When Jesus tells us, “The harvest is plentiful,” He follows this by exhorting us,
“Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2).
The second thing we must do is open our mouths. The Great Commission in Mark 16 is to go into all the world and to preach the Gospel. The word “preach” in Mark 16:15 is kerysso, which means to proclaim in the manner of a herald or to proclaim openly something which has been done. It is a message to be openly proclaimed.
I am exhorting myself in this as much as anyone. So with that in mind I say: we cannot afford to be the generation that takes another season of political freedom for granted. We cannot! And with God’s help, we will not!
Fantastic article Luke! Thanks so much for writing!
Thanks so much for reading, Emma!!
It was a pleasure! 😉
Great article =) I have to ask tho, what’s up with the stock pic of the girl in a graveyard? Given the article, I would get like, someone in a wheat field or on a farm but the graveyard doesn’t make sense XD
OOOH I THINK I FIGURED IT OUT!! Luke must be a Calvinist and is using the graveyard picture to subtly remind his readers of Total Depravity – that lost people are *dead* in their sins XD XD totally kidding
*face palm*
Lol 😊
Haha the writers do not pick the pictures lol
Oooooh then it must be a Calvinist conspiracy theory by the editors of the website XD XD
Haha, true
That is interesting to know. 🙂
Ahahahah right????
Very weird though lol
Probably what the person was thinking with the graveyard picture is something like this. Graveyards remind us of a world filled with dying humans, many of which are without Christ. And graveyards tend to have a sobering affect on believers, reminding them of those dying without Christ, thus, reminding us of the calling to go make disciples of those who are still living. Something like that, ya know?! 😉
That is great but I still like my Calvinist conspiracy theory better XD
Haha! Yeah, I must agree, I like your conspiracy! Have you ever heard the Calvinist poem by John Piper? It is seriously the best! Watch the video right here. http://www.desiringgod.org/Calvinist
Also my brother is in the video (see if you can find him?).
THIS is a TERRIFIC article. Thank you for writing it!
Thank you, Emma!!
Thanks Luke for that awesome article! I think I’m going go pray now…. 🙂
Haha! Thanks for reading, Ashley!
Fantastic article, Luke! And a good challenge. American believers, me very much included, need this message badly. Thank you!
Thanks, Haylie!
This is excellent Luke!! When I read about western Christians who visit persecuted brothers and sisters, often they’ll pray for each other. And often the persecuted Christian will pray that the western Christian’s country will experience persecution so the Christians there can be strengthened.
It think it’s great that you’re urging people to use the freedom while it’s here and not wait for persecution to evangelize!
That’s so good. We can learn a whole lot from our persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. Thanks, Heather!
Thank you for writing this! I was really discouraged about a friend today and this really helped. 🙂
Glad to hear that! Thanks for reading, Melissa!
Amazing article (: Thanks for writing Luke!
Thanks, Haven!
Incredible article!!
Thanks, Jo!
Amen! Let’s go!!
Hi, i just found about you guys yesterday. Your story and what you share is so inspiring. I hope to hang around more and join in on the discussion. I want to share about you guys so more people will check you out and join the rebelution. Any advice on how I can best reach out to people?
Welcome to the Reb!!
Thanks, I love this place!!
Thank you for this heartfelt article. I fear its warning was not heeded based on the evidence I see today. I pray for God’s kingdom work to be done in America and in the world today as never before. Even so come Lord Jesus.