Day 6 -- Agriculture, Part 1

It is imperative that we come to a solid and common understanding of the work and nature of the Church. Only then will we find common ground to move forward with God’s vision for our church. Let's look at the four major motifs that the Biblical writers use to define the Church: Agriculture, Organics/Family, Military, Athletics. We begin with the biblical motif of agriculture.

It was natural for the biblical writers to make comparisons to sowing, planting and harvesting because their entire world revolved around these activities. Plowing, planting, sowing, pruning and harvesting were very familiar terms. Their calendars were marked by the seasons and by the times of planting and harvesting. Even today, those who work in agriculture live by these seasons.

Jesus, for instance, described the Kingdom of God like a man sowing a field. The seed falls on all kinds of ground. Only the seed that falls on good soil takes root and becomes productive (Matthew 13:1-23). He describes the Kingdom of God as a mustard seed that is planted and even though it is a tiny seed, through the mysterious workings of God it becomes a large plant (Matthew 13:31-32).

Jesus, talking to his disciples, looks out at the world and tells them that the “harvest is plentiful” and that we are to pray to the Lord of the harvest for workers to pick the crop (Luke 10:2). He indicates that there are those who sow and those who reap but when the eternal harvest comes those who sow and those who reap rejoice together for the lives that have been saved (John 4:36).

Again, Jesus compares our relationship to Him and to the heavenly Father as the relationship between a vine and its branches. He is the vine and we are the branches, apart from Him we wither and die (John 15:5). He and John the Baptist indicate that there is a pruning that God does when we are disobedient to him (Matthew 3:10). Jesus even curses the fig tree that refuses to bear fruit (Matthew 21:19). The fig tree is an obvious allusion to the people of Israel, but the same fate can befall any group, including the church, that refuses to bear fruit.

Obviously, there is much to learn in studying the relationship of creator to his creation. Paul tells us that we plant and water the crops, but only God can make them grow (1 Corinthians 3:6). So it is with the Church.

Tomorrow we will take a look at how Paul and others picked up on this motif. Then we will draw some general conclusions about the church derived from the agricultural motif. Stay tuned ...

Ask God to help you rely on HIM for spiritual growth. Ask him to remind you every time you start to take matter into your own hands. Ask him to gently rebuke you whenever you make your opinion more important than HIS!
Blessings,
Pastor Ellis