The Old Red Tractor: Harvesting the corners of the Kingdom

When I was in high school, my dad started raising cows. It was never a very big herd, but he enjoyed it. And when my brother and I got married, those cows helped pay for our rehearsal dinners.

One chore I often had was mowing the field. I did it on an old red Massey Ferguson tractor. This was the early 2000s, when iPods were very much a thing. I’d ride that tractor in basketball shorts, a mesh jersey, and a backwards hat, with my iPod blasting Toby Keith’s “I Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” singing every line.

That’s about as far as my farming career went. The love for raising animals didn’t pass from my dad to his first son (or his second, for that matter).

But something far more important did.

My dad David Smith, once Pastor at Sandy Plain. Now Full time missionary with Lesser Ministries.‍ ‍

My dad’s love for Jesus. His love for the Bible. His love for the local church.

Now before the theologians come after me — I don’t mean he passed down his salvation. I mean I watched him love the Lord, study his Bible, and faithfully pastor his church for most of my life. He modeled a faith that treasured Christ, God’s Word, and Christ’s bride.

In one sermon, my dad was preaching about the mission of God and the church’s role in it. He was applying it specifically to his church — Sandy Plain Original Free Will Baptist Church in Pine Ridge, North Carolina.

He said large churches in big cities are like combines. They can harvest most of the field. But because of their size, they can’t always get into the tight corners.

That’s where you need a small tractor.

I was in grade school when he preached that sermon, but it has stayed with me for over twenty years.

For more than two decades, I watched my dad faithfully pastor that same rural church, leading his people to harvest in their small corner of the world. Pine Ridge isn’t a place most people could find on a map — but it mattered. It still does.

I didn’t think I’d end up there myself. I wanted to coach. But during my undergrad, the Lord redirected my life into ministry. I served as a youth pastor and thought maybe I’d become an evangelist or camp speaker. Those doors never opened.

But God did open the door to Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

While there, I read Mark Clifton’s Reclaiming Glory, a book on church revitalization. That book was my Damascus Road moment. The Lord made it clear: this is what I have for you.

Kenansville Baptist, in Kenansville, N.C. where I pastor now.

Now I find myself in a town of fewer than 1,000 people, pastoring a church planted right in the middle of those 900 souls.

Looking back, I can see how God used my dad, Sandy Plain, and faithful men like Don Reed, Tom McMahon, and Jim Pope to shape me. I want to do that for others.

That’s my hope for this blog.

I’m no expert. I don’t have decades of experience. I’ve got some education, some books under my belt, a few papers written, and more podcasts than I should probably admit.

But I love the local church. I love rural pastors. And I believe small churches play a massive role in the mission of God.

In a way, I never left that old red tractor.

I’m not bush-hogging fields anymore — but I’m doing everything I can to help reach the small corners of the world with the gospel.

Pastor. Church leader. If you’re serving in a small place, your church matters. Your town matters. Your corner matters.

Let’s help each other harvest it.

My goal is to post weekly. I’ll share each post on my Facebook so you can follow along there.