How can we share the Gospel effectively? How do we “turn many to righteousness”? We begin with God’s one method, not human methods. God’s main method is the Gospel itself.
Think of it this way: Farmers plant seeds in the ground in various ways. Like the sower in the parable of Matthew 13 and Luke 8, some may broadcast seed over a wide area. Others may place one seed at a time into the soil. Others may plant with animals or with modern machinery. Yet no method is effective without the seed itself. God has given reproductive life to the seed, not to the various methods. In the same way, God has invested living power in His word. “The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). Here is how Jesus pictured the power of the seed:
The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come (Mark 4:26-29).
The farmer has a role to play, but it is a humble, dependent role. Suppose the farmer gets impatient. Suppose he takes matters into his own hands, literally. He grabs the young plant and pulls on it, trying to force it to grow faster. Such foolishness only destroys the plant. Every farmer works hard, doing the farmer’s part, but not the seed’s part. In the same way, we cannot force conversions. Our part is to sow the seed of God’s word and let it do its work in human hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:12).