God’s Agricultural Ecosystem
Today’s Scripture: I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:6-11
Movement 1: Planting
Read and meditate: ‘I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.’ 1 Corinthians 3:6
Reflect: One of the jobs God gives us is to plant the seeds of the Gospel in the context to which He has called us. He speaks of this again in Mark 4:1-20. He does not call us to worry about the soil; He simply tells us to scatter seed. He does not call us to be concerned with the harvest. He just says to scatter seed. Again, in Mark 4:26-29, we hear of scattering seed. It is then said of the farmer, “Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens”(v. 27). We are not to know or understand how the process works. All we know is the command to scatter seeds...
Pray:
Whether or not you have identified a context in which you are planting the Good News, ask God, “What do you want me to know about planting seeds of the Good News?” and then listen.
Movement 2: Watering
Read and meditate: ‘I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.’ 1 Corinthians 3:6
Reflect: Notice that we are not called to do everything! Paul planted seeds and Apollos watered. Teamwork. Each one of us has our role to play in different contexts in God’s Agricultural Ecosystem. Some plant, some sow, some water, some reap, some harvest...and each of these roles will look different for each one of us because we are all different people bringing the Good News to different contexts. But the key here is not to try to do it all. When we try to do it all we are ineffective, exhausted, and we very well may have “stolen” someone else’s chance to utilize their gifts in this ecosystem. It takes humility to accept my role, do it well, and then let someone else take the next role.
Pray: Think about a context in which God has asked you to plant seeds or sow or water or reap. Ask God, “What do you want me to know about my role in this context?” and then listen. If need be, repent for trying to do it all yourself and not letting others fulfill their roles in the Kingdom ecosystem.
Movement 3: Working the Ground Together
Read and meditate: ‘It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.’ 1 Corinthians 3:7-9
Reflect: We are effectively “no names.” Don’t get me wrong, God knows us by name, and He has created us for the good works He prepared for us long ago. But in God’s ecosystem, the biggest name is God, who makes the seed grow. He is the Lord of the Harvest. That’s what’s important. The rest of us work the ground together for Kingdom impact. We want to impact Kansas City with the beauty, justice, and Good News of Jesus. We all have the same purpose and role-—God’s workers in God’s field.
Pray: Ask God, “What do you want me to know about teammates in my context?” and then listen.
Movement 4: The True Foundation
Read and meditate: ‘Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.’ 1 Corinthians 3:10-11
Reflect: Jesus is the foundation. The one true foundation. This verse offers a warning: be careful to stick with this one foundation: Jesus Christ. The building will fall if something else is laid in His place. It will be unstable if we mix in a little of something else with Jesus because we think we need to add our input. He is sovereign. He is omnipotent. He is omniscient. His thoughts and ways are higher than ours, and as the foundation, he is the firmest.
Pray: Ask God, “What do you want me to know about the foundation on which I am building my life?” and then listen.