be a gardener
whatever you do. · Missional Reflections: Do More (comment from old pete)
The thought that comes to mind is the need to be ‘gardeners’ rather than ‘warriors’
So simple, so beautiful… and so challenging. This could definitely be fleshed out in many ways. Meditate on this with me.
Related posts:
- break it down - word! As a human I am post modern As a post...
- God’s Warriors If you haven’t heard about this, it’s worth a watch....
- what is missional continued Here are some more folks who have added their voice...
- potential problems with missional I’ve been reading the missional posts from the synchroblog and...
- Missio Dei: In the Crisis of Christianity by Fred Peatross First, an apology. I agreed to...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
2008
18
Jul
- Posted by Mak at 09:05 am
- Permalink for this entry
- Filed under: missional, scribe
- RSS comments feed of this entry
- TrackBack URI
The number of parables that refer to us as plants vastly out number of passages that refer to us as warriors.
I think that a lot of new believers who are brought up in the institution view are taught to view themselves as a part of the “army of God,” with the idea that dominian is the objective. See my post on Jesus Camp for this.
At some point in my christian development, Christ revealed himself to me in a new way — not as a commander of an army (although he certainly is), but as a suffering savior, carrying the weight of the my sin for my sake. I saw a Christ who was broken for his people, his blood spilled so I could simply be free. And strangely, it is only in this freedom that I’m compelled to actually grow a literal garden… and it’s in this garden that I see the parables of Christ coming alive… the idea of sacrifice, of seasons of growth, the idea of a death that leads to so much life…
So yeah. Garden. I can’t help but think that in that garden of Eden, God’s greatest creation was given the most poignant series of object lessons. And when Jesus says, “the kingdom of heaven is here,” I feel like he is saying that the eternal truths of heaven are made manifest through what Christ is doing… and I think that the eternal truths of heaven are also made manifest in the growing and nurturing of a garden. And I’m not saying that literal gardening is the point. But rather that the way we view the world should be the same way a good gardener takes care of the garden.
Mak,
The gardening image works for me on so many levels — not just the parables of growth (mysterious, not controlled, unlike an army where someone at least seems to be in charge), but also questions of how you garden. Organic gardening involves a whole different approach than industrial (institutional) farming — mostly you take care of the soil and let the plant do what it’s supposed to. The results are radically different: which would you rather eat, a fresh, vine ripened tomato from someone’s garden or the styrofoam chip you get in the grocery store? I tend to think that if more of us got our hands into the dirt and were forced to pay attention to the process of growing our food, we might turn out to be better Christians.
thank you jovial and maria - I wrote a post a long time ago about being “organic” and touched on a lot of what you mentioned maria.
Horticulture/Agriculture is what I teach in Oz - and indeed God is in all I see, be a gardener, ecosystems both macro and micro at work - lovely.
I have never thought of this analogy before. I soon as I read it, it was like a little light bulb appeared over my head, picturing a vivid image of the kind of work we as followers of Christ are to be doing. I want to put my sword down, put my gavel down, and pickup my watering can and gardening tools that prepare the way for life to emerge.
Excellent! Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s new book “New Monasticism” explores this theme beautifully. In fact, it is something we are trying to be very intentional about in our community. Among other things, it has meant that we started an actual garden as a community/spiritual discipline. Already very telling.
Peace,
Jamie
very cool jamie
tia- well said, let it be so
thanks for dropping by mark
This is reminiscent to me of “Be still and know that I am God.” The “activity” of a garden is hardly a frenzy of activity intended to add more plants. And the parable of the sower, I heard a few weeks ago in church, is less about the sower and more about how absurd it is that the seed of the gospel, no matter where the moron sower “flangs” it, grows–which says a hell of a lot more about the seed and the One who makes it grow than the vessel “flanging” the seed in any direction.
Mmmm, this is well worth soaking up. Thanks!