Why I Think the World Is Not Too Far Gone

One quick look at the 24-hour news cycle, and you’ll think the world is gone for good. You know, with wars and rumors of wars. Could Armageddon be upon us? Some interpreters of the book of Revelation seem to think so.

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But I’m not convinced that the world is completely toast.

Let me explain my position. But first, let me explain why I think the world appears to be toast.

In Matthew 13 Jesus tells the story of a sower, some seeds, and four types of soil. You remember the parable, don’t you?

• Some seeds fell along the path.

• Some seeds fell on rocky soil.

• Some seeds fell among thorns.

• Some seeds fell on good soil.

The seeds that fell on the first, second, and third types of soil were devoured, scorched, and choked, respectively. Only seeds that fell on the fourth type of soil survived. In terms of raw math, the survival rate was twenty-five percent, which is dismal by most standards.

I can certainly understand why many well-meaning Christians believe that failure is baked into the Christian cake. But such a pessimistic outlook is, in my estimation, misguided math at best.

You see, Jesus does not end his parable with the gloom of defeat. No, instead Jesus declares that the good soil will reap a thirty, sixty, hundredfold return.

Did you catch those eye-popping numbers?

30, 60, and 100x.

That is a staggering return on investment!

Imagine that you give your son $100 to invest. Let’s say he goes out and almost immediately loses $75 of that amount in bad investments. Boom! Just like that, three-fourths of the investment is gone for good. (Thankfully, it’s a mere $75, not your entire life savings!)

But wait, what if a few days later, you get word from your son that the remaining $25 of the investment has multiplied tenfold? Suddenly that $25 is now worth $250! That’s a pretty sweet deal indeed. The $75 loss has been made back and then some.

But notice, Jesus in Matthew 13 does not describe a 10x return. Rather, Christ speaks of 30x, 60x, and 100x. In other words, when we consider the father-son-investment scenario just now, the $75 loss turns into a gain of $750 on the lower end (30x) and $2,500 on the higher end (100x).

Can you imagine that?

You invested $100 originally. The first $75 went to waste. Meanwhile, the other $25 skyrocketed to somewhere between $750 and $2,500. That’s the power of exponential math. And that’s the power of the gospel. That’s the power of the kingdom.

“Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4).

Beloved, it may well seem like the world is going to pot. Fair enough. I get it. The world is full of yuck. The math doesn’t look great right now. I don’t like one-fourth fractions any better than the next guy.

But I’ll gladly take a hundredfold return any day of the week. Satan and his minions may think their winning seventy-five percent of the time. But they apparently forget that my Lord and Savior does crazy math with his kingdom.

Take heart, Christian. The return on Christ’s investment is glorious!

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