Crisis is sometimes like a plow breaking open the sin-hardened soil of the human heart and rendering it receptive to the seed of the gospel. The breaking hurts, but without it, the seed may not find fertile soil.

Tahlia’s story of alcoholism, drug abuse, rape and HIV is tragic. Yet God in His grace and love used the brokenness wrought by sin to plant the life-transforming seed of the gospel in her heart. And that seed has sprung forth in life!

But there’s another critical “brokenness” that is necessary — that of the sower. For the seed to find its way into the broken soil of a human heart there must be a sower who is willing to himself walk in the midst of brokenness — someone like Brian. Just as the farmer cannot sow his fields without walking through a lot of dirt, neither can we hope to sow seed in the hearts of broken people without living and walking in the midst of their brokenness. Our natural inclination is to flee — to shield ourselves from people and situations where we feel threatened or uncomfortable. But if we want to sow seed that grows, we’ve got to get our feet dirty! 

Jesus said: “Truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me” (John 12:24-26a).

To follow Jesus as a disciple-maker means to be broken because of others’ brokenness, to lose because of their lost-ness and to die to this life so that they might take hold of true life. In a very real sense, our loss in the midst of theirs is the ultimate “win-win situation.”