Am I (Are We) in a Target Rich Environment?

Part of my Scripture reading this morning was Jesus’s encounter with the Samaritan woman (John 4:1-42).

I tend to be a “look the glass is already half empty”, instead of “look the glass is still half full”, kind of guy. (I know that as a Christian I should not be this way but it is one of many issues in my life where I still, even with the Lords help, have been unable to align myself with Christ.)

When the disciples returned from buying food they urged Jesus to eat something, He declined saying (the Message, John 4:34-35) The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time!

Without God’s intervention our nation, probably the greatest nation ever on our planet, will continue “Slouching Towards Gomorrah” (the title of a book by Robert Bork). I love the US and honor those whose sacrifices have provided us with such a Land of Opportunity. That love, while important, should not be at the top of the list of things I love. At the top of my list should be my love of the God who gave me earthly life and who has provided me with a door to heavenly, eternal life.

The United States (IMHO) does not show up in “end times prophesy”, our nation will have deteriorated to being insignificant by the time the Tribulation begins. All that negativity has a positive side. Christianity flourishes in harsh environments, environments where Christians are persecuted at levels most of us can’t begin to comprehend (see notes 1 & 2 below).

Jesus told His the disciples that the Samaritan “fields” were ripe for harvest. In the US the high numbers of suicides, drug users, malcontents rioting in our cities, etc, seems to indicate that there are a huge number of people seeking something in the US. This morning it was reinforced for me that the “fields” in the US are ripe for harvest. The question is, at what level am I going to be obedient to His call to participate in bringing in the harvest in this Target Rich Environment?

1.      From 64 AD to 313 AD, during the initial days of the Christian church, Christians were persecuted by Romans. Persecutions were worst during the first 10 years and last 50 years of that time period. An estimated 6,000 Christians were martyred by the Roman government, yet Christianity flourished in the world.

In January 2020 Christianity Today published a list of the worst 50 nations, in terms of persecution of Christians. It estimated that today 260 million Christians live those 50 nations where persecutions, because of their beliefs, are “high to severe”. Another 50 million suffer persecutions while living in the next tier, consisting of 25 nations.