June 04, 2007
Watering
In Corinthians Paul tells us that he planted churches, Apollos watered them and God made them grow. We often emphasize planting churches foreign countries, but I’m wondering if we’re neglecting the business of watering them in our own country. Although established many years ago, a small church in a neighboring town is struggling. Without a minister for a few years their membership and finances dwindled. The current part-time minister now fills the pulpit for a stipend. It’s advantageous to the Kingdom for this church, and others like it, to succeed. I think if Paul were here today he’d be writing letters to area churches and telling them to start doing some watering.
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Gail;
-----Whether they are weeds, flowers, grass, or vegetables, plants seem to do better when they are close together. Some land areas will actually go into desert conditions if all the vegetation is removed. The intertwining of the foliage shelters the ground from the pounding sun while all of the plants act as evaporative pumps drawing moisture from deeper in the ground and emitting it at the surface. This makes the ground more hospitable to germination and seedlings, which, in turn, keep the ground cover thriving. Precious moisture will then produces its effect with much greater efficiency.
-----In the heat of theological rivalry and simple human jealousies, our church leaders have forgotten this effect demonstrated so well by nature. They are pouring a lot of water on the churches today. Look at your church, for example. It has four full time ministers pouring away. But they plant their churches with enough ideological distance between each other that, in spite of any physical proximity, their churches will always remain their churches. As a result, the hot sun quickly drives from the parched ground whatever their zeal may pour.
-----But the Lord needs His churches close together so they will generate an atmosphere conducive to holding moisture. He needs His leaders to stop thinking in terms of “my church” “your church” and start thinking in terms of “fellowship of His people“. There is no reason all of the straggling little twigs around a community can not come into actual, intertwining contact with each other and produce a moist environment. There is only cause as to why they have not - a bunch of jealous waterboys.
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