One of the life skills I wish I possessed was that of a gardener. I try my best to get things to grow, but they always turn out differently. I think I am doing everything right, but it rarely comes out how I want. Since I know this about myself, I tend to stick to plants that are very easy to grow. In my office, I have a bamboo plant. All I must do is put it in water, and it will grow. I don’t have to do much; it just does its thing. This is like a church.
The church, much like a plant, needs certain things to grow. It needs to be planted. It needs to be watered, it needs to be given the right food, and it will grow. The challenge is that we often think we must do something special. We take it upon ourselves to try to make our church the best thing we can make it and much like me, with my plants, we are killing it. We can want to be in control or worry over every little detail to the point that we kill the plant, and when it dies, we are quick to point fingers.
Generally, the problem is not that we did too much or too little it’s because we failed to provide the plant and the church with the right environment. Seeing the proper environment is critical to the growth and vitality of the plant. Some plants prefer one soil over another. Some plants prefer drier climates and wetter climates, but we must create an environment for growth to see growth.
Jesus understands creating the right environment. Jesus in Luke 13 is being questioned about a calamity that happened to some Galileans. The people felt that they were being punished because of their sins. Jesus challenges them about their thinking. You think their fate was due to their great sin, but Jesus tells them that they will face a similar fate if they do not repent. Jesus tells them a parable about a landowner with a fig tree not producing fruit. He tells the gardener to cut it down because it has been taking up space in the garden. The area that could be used for something else. The gardener suggests that he dig around it, put some fertilizer on it and if it does not bear fruit next year, he will cut it down.
Jesus is using this story to drive home a point that to escape the fate of those Galileans; his listeners must repent because there will come a time when they will be cut down but notice in the story what the gardener suggests. He advocates that the environment of the tree might be the cause. That may be hindering the tree from reaching its full potential. This could be a lesson for the church.
Many of the problems in the church could be caused by a substandard environment. Maybe we are not as mature as we need to be. Perhaps we are not as friendly as we need to be. Maybe we are so caught up with keeping the environment the same that we hinder growth. To grow, we must be willing to change some things. My former Bishop said: Healthy things grow, growing things change, and change challenges us, challenges cause us to put our trust in God, trust in God calls for obedience, and obedience makes us healthy.
As our environment changes here at the church, we must ask ourselves if we are embracing the change and working to grow together and be the congregation that we need to be, or are we looking to keep things the same, risk being unfruitful, and cut down? God will not continue to allow us to take up space in his garden; he is looking for us to bear fruit, and bearing fruit requires a healthy environment—just a thought.
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