Soil

I guess from the time I heard the parable about the different kinds of soil in Mark 4, I assumed I was the good soil. Why wouldn't I be right? I grew up in church and did the stuff that good soil does. I believed this until I was reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan and I ran face first into a retaining wall. Ouch! That hurts. Chan said ( and I paraphrase because the book is downstairs and I'm too comfortable lying in my bed to go get it) ..." Don't assume you are the good soil". What? Heresy I say. His book reading audience are the good soil if anyone is.

But then I decided to check the parable out for myself. Of course Jesus didn't explain this parable to the people, he wanted the sincere seekers to think about it, chew on it, swish it around in their mouths a little. So how do we cheaters get the meaning? Well, kind of like the disciples did. They asked Jesus to explain it. No time to chew I guess. He told them. We read what he said. So I'm reading what good soil is according to Jesus and to confirm my status in the "Good Soil" club. It says good soil produces a crop 30-100x what has been planted. But that's not what got me. What got me is Jesus description in Mark 4:18. It talks about the seed that fell among the thorns. These people hear the message but all too quickly it's crowded out by the " worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things so that no fruit is produced".

Was Jesus talking about Americans? We hear, maybe even believe, are quick to stand up for Christianity if pressed or asked by people we want to impress but that's not the point. The point is we love thorns. I want God and thorns. I want my stuff and I don't see it crowding out who I could be-good soil/seed.

Ok, before anyone who reads this tries to soothe me by saying I am god soil let me be convicted a little. Yes, I believe most of me is filled with good soil but I want to think about what kind of soil I could be. Can I be free from American Consumerism and gluttony? Can I have less in my life that crowds out Jesus? Is this what I want? Yes. Am I loved by a forgiving God who knows my every speck of dirt and continues to call me his own? Yes. So I will live in a world that questions my soil condition. I will do periodic soil tests. I will take doses of weed killer to stop the thorns from crowding out Jesus in me. I will fertilize this patch of turf called my life with God's message to me and his spirit's voice.

So I will not assume I am good soil anymore. I will test myself to see what nutrients are in me and what thorns need to be hit with the Round Up.