Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends, on this final weekend of July.
For a period of time my wife and I lived in the state of North Dakota, in America. What a remarkable part of the county with some amazing people whom we dearly love. We had never seen large farms before we arrived there so this time of year was particularly exciting as we watched the crops grow and mature, and then came the wonderful harvest season in the fall. On more than one occasion I had the opportunity to ride in the tractor with the farmer, both in planting and harvesting seasons. Oh, my I learned so much about the miracle farmers live each day as they prepare the soil, plant the seed, fertilize and tend to the weeds, and then eventually harvest. And all through that process they watch the sky and wait for God to do what only God can do… send rain and sunshine and make things grow!
We all understand how that process works, when it comes to corn or soybeans or sunflowers or sugar beets or wheat or whatever farmers grow in your part of the world.
But what does this look like in a human life? Oh, I don’t mean the miracle of a newborn baby growing into childhood, and then soon an adolescent, and then a young adult, and finally a fully mature, aging adult, as miraculous as this human journey is. I’m asking about the spiritual growth and development, which only God can accomplish in human beings, which is so wonderful, but increasingly rare!
Let’s rejoin Paul as he is writing about this in his first letter to the Christians, in the Greek city of Corinth, in about 54ad. “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the spiritual seed. Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow [in your lives]. So, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything [special] but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field…” (1 Cor. 3:5-9)
What do you hear in Paul’s words my friends? As I rode with those farmers in their tractor, as the tractors rumbled across huge fields of grain, I enjoyed asking questions like this: “So, what is the most important thing the farmer does which contributes to a good crop yield?” The farmers would look at me with a painful look on their face when I asked questions like that. My question showed my ignorance of the complex, delicate, hardworking, strategic work of farming. EVERY aspect of the farmer’s work was very important, and it was essential it was done at the right time, with precision and excellence. For the growing process was a God ordained process that simply would not yield a harvest if not done in the proper order and with great wisdom and care. That’s what Paul is explaining here.
Paul had come to Corinth more than three years before he was writing this letter. After Paul had evaluated this great city, he began proclaiming the truths about the identity and life purpose of Jesus Christ. It was new information to almost everyone in Corinth for the name Jesus was unknown there and the title “the Christ” or “Messiah”, applied to Jesus, was shocking to Jews who lived in Corinth.
As Paul then explained the life, teachings, miracles, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, both Jews and Greeks were nothing short of amazed! (Acts 18:1-18) Some believed, some doubted, some rejected Paul. Paul stayed in Corinth 18 months proclaiming and explaining Jesus.
Like a spiritual farmer, Paul had worked the spiritual soil; sowed the precious spiritual seed of the Gospel; carefully fertilized and nurtured the spiritual seed with teaching; removed weeds of doubt; and protected the sown seed from those things which would steal it away from the lives of those in whom Paul had sown God’s truth.
Now ponder that a moment my friends. Can you imagine what Paul would have done that would accomplish each of those strategic aspects of farming applied to spiritual growth? Has that happened in your life? If so, WHO was the spiritual farmer for you? WHEN and HOW did you experience each of those very important, strategic aspects of the spiritual growth farming process in your life?
Some time after Paul had left Corinth, Apollos had arrived, and he had continued what Paul had begun in Corinth. But Apollos was different from Paul. Apollos had an entirely different background, different spiritual training and different passion in life. Paul was an evangelist/church planter; Apollos was evidently a teacher/preacher. But Paul wanted the Corinthian Christians to understand both Paul and Apollos were spiritual farmers, and both had invested in the same spiritual fields, these Christians in Corinth. Both Paul and Apollos had sown and nurtured the same Gospel of Jesus, and both were looking forward to spiritual maturity, and a spiritual harvest in Corinth. But Paul and Apollos did their spiritual field work at different times in different ways but in the same place. And as you see Paul wanted the Corinthians to understand neither Paul nor Apollos was more important than the other or more strategic to the ultimate spiritual harvest.
Paul also wanted to be sure the Corinthian Christians understood spiritual growth is a spiritual miracle God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit, working together, accomplish in a human being who wants to grow into spiritual maturity. Without God’s involvement, both Paul and Apollos would simply be speaking words, but no spiritual miracle would happen in the lives of these dear people.
It’s the same for a farmer working in the fields. Without God’s miraculous work, the seed lies dormant in the ground. But with God’s miracle, seed in the ground, comes to life and produces a plant, which with nourishment of water and sunshine and good farmer care, will eventually produce a harvest! Can you see the wonderful parallel between normal field farming that human farmers do in places like North Dakota, and the spiritual farming work followers of Jesus are doing anywhere in the world there are people who need the Gospel and the miraculous work of God in their lives?
And can you understand that just as the farmer working his fields is careful to do the appropriate work at the strategic time in the growing cycle of a plant, so the spiritual farmer seeks to do the appropriate work in their own life, for their own personal, spiritual growth, but also spiritual farmers are careful with the spiritual work they attempt to do in the lives of those they are seeking to help grow spiritually. That’s called Discipleship or Disciplemaking. It’s spiritual farming! It’s the process of an authentic Christian sharing carefully with another person exactly what they need to nourish their spiritual growth toward spiritual maturity.
Do you see that is exactly what I have been trying to do every day with you as I prepare and send out this “Walking with Jesus”? And perhaps you are taking what you learn in these daily teachings, and you are sharing this good news with others as you help them grow. That’s the miracle of spiritual reproduction. Toward the end of his life Paul was writing a personal letter to Timothy, his friend and the young man who is likely scribing this Corinthian letter. In that letter we know as 2 Timothy, Paul wrote this: “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will be qualified to teach others.” (2 Tim. 2:2)
There it is, the magnificent blueprint for effective, 4 generation Discipleship. Paul shared with Timothy and others the spiritual wisdom he had learned from the Holy Spirit. Timothy then taught other reliable people whom he felt were qualified to pass that spiritual wisdom he had learned on to others. Do you see four spiritual generations?
Now my friends, as we close today, reflect on that as it pertains to you and your spiritual journey. Who has been the ‘spiritual farmer’ teaching you God’s truth, and how well are you nourishing what you are learning? And to whom have you been entrusting the great spiritual truths you have learned and experienced? And finally, as you watch the lives of those you influence, who are they influencing, as they teach the fourth spiritual generation?? And let me leave you with this one question: What things can interrupt and break the 4 generation, spiritual reproduction chain? We’ll look at that tomorrow. Here’s a song to help us consider these important truths my friends…
Today’s Scripture is 1 Corinthians 3:5-9.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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