Growth. A complex word, growth. It’s found everywhere. Personal growth plans. Business growth strategies. Income growth. Spiritual growth. Investment growth.
Everywhere you look the word “growth” creeps in.
Jesus spoke of growth in terms of bearing fruit. A field full of stalks, Jesus had little regard for. Bearing fruit, Kingdom fruit, was to only way to measure growth. Plants (people) that didn’t bear fruit should be pruned. Ouch!
I was raised on a cotton farm; I have a personal understanding for growth and bearing fruit. The yield of the crop was the only determinate for success. It didn’t matter if you were good at driving a tractor. It didn’t matter if your machinery was always kept in pristine condition. It didn’t even matter if you knew the vocabulary of farming.
What mattered was how many bales of cotton you took to the gin. You worked at increasing yield every year.
Churches struggle with this conversation. They can cite good or not so good buildings and grounds. They might be known for a specific ministry in the neighborhood, perhaps a food pantry or welcoming all persons. Maybe even a theological position that separates them from other churches near them.
So that’s where I come from when I think of our church. Is our yield increasing? Spiritually? Numerically?
Are we tending machinery or are we growing cotton? The difference is everything? Jesus said, “the fields are ripe for harvest”. Are you equipped to gather the fruit?
Are you growing? I hope so. I pray that I am, every day.
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