Disciple James log: Pray to the Lord so He will send forth laborers to His harvest.

 

A lesson that James, the one writing here, has been slow in learning, and maybe on the cusp of grasping, is where to dig in, and where to cast off.

Jesus on the one hand speaks of forgiving your neighbor the seven times 70 times for each time they repent.  Elsewhere, he rendered a fig tree dead and baron because it was not bearing any fruit. Likewise he spoke of a landowner that wanted his servant to kill a barren tree, but the servant bagged let me fertilize it and if it doesn't bear fruit then I will cut it down.

SSo Jesus was absolutely not about blind expenditure of energies. These teachings of his, these instructions, and others like it, very much demand discernment. We only have so much time.

I may be learning to understand myself better as a recruiter. And what is the characteristic of a suitable recruit? Someone eager to stand on the truth, whatever that might be, so that they can better serve.

Who is the tree that is barren and should be cast off? One that after some effort, there's just no indication that there is any fruit of understanding, any passion for the truth, any passion to awaken humanity, that is going to come forth.

That is not to say that those that are obviously unsuitable recruits based on their intransigence and or non-response, that is not to say that what little residual Humanity in them might be stirred, is an opportunity to be ignored. It is not. But that is not licensed to invest inappropriate amounts of time.

The critical thing is to recruit laborers.