As a young teenager, John Meador was dropped off at a peanut patch to hoe weeds. At the time he didn’t think his father was doing him a favor by placing him under the supervision of a giant of a man who uttered only a few words of instruction.

“Pointing to a pile of hoes and the rows of peanuts needing to be hoed, he said just two lines. Grab a hoe and pick a row.” Meador nodded his head in obedience, grabbed a hoe and got to work on those peanuts.

Now that he’s pastoring, Meador applies those simple instructions to the challenge of fulfilling the Great Commission. “For us to do all God wants us to do, we have to grab the hoe—the tool God has given us, and find the row where we’re to be laborers in the harvest.”

In a chapel address at SBTC, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Euless shared how he has guided his church to be faithful stewards by focusing on the things God calls Christians to do. From Matthew 28:18-20, Meador highlighted the one thing Christians need to do as they are going out—make disciples.

“The two things you do to make disciples are baptizing and teaching. You reach them with the message of Jesus Christ, allow them to respond and then bring them into the baptistry waters so they’ll fully comprehend and fully identify with Christ. Then teach them, disciple them, give them instruction in the Word.” Meador pointed to Christ’s promise to “be with you when you do that,” referring to the assignment to teach all the things he commanded.

Stated more simply, Meador drew from Acts 1:6-8, stating,“Jesus is coming back. We don’t know when and until he comes we have something that we’re supposed to be doing that he will help us with.”

In order to faithfully discharge the responsibility of making disciples by baptizing and teaching, Meador insisted that both evangelism and equipping must be a part of a local church’s culture.

As pastor of a church accustomed to expository preaching, Meador said he is committed to teaching the scriptures word by word and verse by verse to provide the foundation for making disciples.

“We want our message to be not just something that is creative,unique, fun, or entertaining. We believe if the message spoken is not supernaturally empowered by God, we have nothing to say. I share it as it was written and meant to be used.”

As an evangelistic church, Meador said, “We want to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We want people to hear and respond day in and day out.” To accomplish this, the church trains members in Evangelism Explosion, gives them tools to invite people to hear more about Jesus Christ, then presents the gospel in both individual and corporate settings, undergirding the entire process in prayer.

In addition to giving an invitation for people to profess faith in Christ during the worship service, Meador also shares the gospel in a smaller gathering of guests who attend a brief reception following each service. “Not a week goes by that we don’t see someone respond to the invitation to know Jesus Christ.”

Once individuals accept Christ as Savior, the church connects them to a discipleship process, equipping them for service.“When they come we will put them in a clearly defined, seamless process to believe, belong and begin their spiritual journey so they can become all that God has called them to be.”

Every member of the local church has an assignment, using the tools God has given. With their focus on the Great Commission of making disciples, Meador is one of thousands of Southern Baptist pastors in Texas calling for laborers to grab a hoe and pick a row where God will provide the harvest.