Mules - Ouch, but Worth Considering?

I was sent this illustration by a friend. It is originally from a collection of sermon illustrations: Pulpit Helps: Collection II

"The church today is raising a whole generation of mules. They know how to sweat and to work hard but they don't know how to reproduce themselves." It's not known who said that, but it is a statement of incredible insight. Mules are hard workers.  They have carried supplies, plowed fields, pulled wagons and transported people. The only problem is that they are almost always sterile and thus cannot reproduce. They are hard workers, but they are the end of the line. They do not produce more like themselves.

The church is full of hard workers. They teach classes, serve the physical needs of others, clean up and mow the grass, cook, move tables, organize social activities, visit and even write letters and cards, and do a host of other things. There is just one problem. They don't "reproduce." They don't teach the gospel to the lost so others can become hard workers. They are the end of the line.

The real job the Lord gave us is to go into the world and "reproduce ourselves" by making disciples of others (Matt. 28:18-20). It is a tough lesson to realize that you may have worked hard and yet still haven't gotten the job done. Let us say it plainly. If we are not evangelizing, we are not doing the job completely. If we are nothing more than a generation of mules, we are on the road to extinction.