This is a line from a nursery rhyme entitled, “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” that was first published in the 18^th century. The poem’s meaning and its subject are debated but the question regarding the garden’s growth sticks in my mind and lends itself to the focus of this website. I’ve been emphasizing the need to explore the Gospel; to recognize its call to investigate what the Lord has provided for us through the death and resurrection of the Christ. Rather than simply accepting our forgiveness of sins through the cross and leaving it at that, the Bible encourages us to press toward a greater understanding of what our Father has provided for us. And in order to do that we need to have some idea of the possibilities made available to us, and be willing to take the challenge to explore those possibilities.

I’ve used the metaphor of a garden in our discussions to point out some of the features associated with our growth as Christians. The Gospel is planted in our hearts when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, but the soil of our hearts has been informed by the environment of this world. And what the world has taught us is a mixed bag containing a variety of ideas; some good, some not so good. We learn to read employing the language of our surroundings, but we also learn how to think and to understand our surroundings as well. Learning how to read is like a tool, in this case a tool that helps us acquire knowledge about our world. Learning how to think and to gain understanding is the result of being made familiar with the ideas that inform our world. Some of those ideas are the basis for understanding the physical environment in which we exist.

In terms of everyday life, these ideas are not particularly controversial, nor debatable. People might argue about what weather to expect tomorrow, but they don’t argue about the fact that the weather will eventually change. Other ideas promote understanding that is open to debate. Issues of culture regarding what is right and wrong in a particular circumstance can prompt great controversy; that’s because the answers are informed by competing resources that result in conflicting conclusions; case in point the issue of abortion. The soil of our culture contains a lot of ideas that provide the basis for conclusions regarding all the subjects that inform our lives as Americans.

Now it can be said that this cultural environment has an impact on our understanding of the Gospel, and that impact is not necessarily noticeable. Just as the ancient world affected the thinking of early Christians, so too, our modern culture has an influence on us. That includes the evangelical church culture of modern America. American evangelicals often focus on two aspects of the Gospel depending on the background that informs them. Either they emphasize the basic teaching of forgiveness through repentance of sin and faith in the death and resurrection of the Christ, and stop there. Or, if they’re Pentecostal, they add an emphasis on the exercise of spiritual gifts such as prophecy and speaking in tongues. Neither approach is wrong; it’s just that neither approach goes far enough.

I realize that this assessment is something of an over simplification. Evangelical preachers will delve into the need to become like Christ, to follow His example, to emulate the one who died on our behalf. Our failure to be consistent in this regard is often countered by the power of repentance as a means to make up for our short comings. And that’s true. Genuine repentance rectifies our place before the Lord. He is ready and willing “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) But the call is to become “perfect,” which is to become a mature person who consistently reflects the nature of Christ in any and all circumstances. (Philippians 3:12) That takes work and it involves something that we all try to avoid: suffering. I’m not talking about martyrdom in the traditional sense. Some people are called to put it all on the line, responding to the Lord’s call to place themselves in harm’s way and to suffer the ultimate consequence. But most American Christians are not challenged in this fashion. The suffering that most of us are called to embrace is the suffering involved in giving up our self-understanding as it’s been established in us by American culture, and “put on the new self” which reflects the “righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10)

Becoming like Jesus in this culture requires that we go against the current trends; trends which seem to be in constant flux these days. We’re in an environment that literally bubbles with ideas regarding everything pertaining to our existence. And in the midst of it all evangelicals attempt to affirm the basic ideas that inform our faith and our understanding of the world. The focus starts with the basic teaching regarding Jesus’ death and resurrection, and then attention is given to the ungodliness of the world concerning basic issues such as God’s intentions for human sexuality. The evangelical church “suffers’ as a result of this contest of ideas because our ideas are out of step with the current thinking regarding human existence. In contending for biblical values within the culture attempts are made to pass laws consistent with our views. We try to stand up to the trends and reaffirm values that we believe the Bible presents. But that’s not really the suffering that I’m talking about.

The suffering I’m focusing on is the suffering that actually changes who we are. Being ostracized for promoting Christian values is legitimate, but success or failure in the American political realm doesn’t really involve becoming more like Christ. In confronting the political order of His day, Jesus had to be who He was in relation to the Father: He had to be the Christ: God and man suffering for His love of the Father and those for whom He died. That’s the kind of suffering we need to embrace. We can go to church, we can read our Bible, we can argue for “just” laws; but can we suffer the Lord’s training that will render us a reflection of Jesus in all of His attributes? That takes work. That takes tenacity, a willingness to have everything that pertains to us examined and changed as needs be. I’m talking to myself right now as much as I’m talking to you.

How does that happen? If our soul is likened to a garden then the question is, “How Does Our Garden Grow?” Part of the answer is that there’s a process involved that we need to be willing to submit to. Think about it in terms of a seed planted in the soil. I’ve used this image in discussing the focus of this blog. American culture is the soil in which our American church is planted, and one of the points of concern is how our culture distorts our understanding of the Faith. We assume certain things regarding our existence because we haven’t been exposed to alternative ideas. What we need to do is shed the light of scripture on those ideas and consider if they’re valid. But in this current discussion I want to focus on how the seed changes once it’s placed in the soil. Think about it; we place a seed in the ground and if the soil is accommodating and the environment includes sufficient water and sunlight, pretty soon the seed begins to change. The outer sheath of the seed breaks apart and shoots of fiber extend out. Some make their way toward the surface of the ground, while others extend further down into the ground forming “roots.” This doesn’t happen before our very eyes, but the growth becomes evident very quickly. The shoot above ground becomes a stem that starts to rise up from the surface and foliage extends out of the stem along with more stems “branching” out from the main shaft. Later a flowering takes place that eventually produces small growths that then become the “fruit” of the plant: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers. It’s an amazing process.

We’re like that; or we should be. Remember the parable of the sower that Jesus presented. The Gospel is likened to a seed and the growth of the seed is affected by the environment in which it was sown. It’s pointed out that growth is inhibited by various things but the seed that ultimately produces the intended fruit produces thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold. (Matthew 13:18-23) But what had to happen was that the seed had to change throughout its growth cycle in order to produce. In that sense it had to suffer; it had to break apart and change. It had to go through a process in order to reach fruit-bearing maturity. What kind of fruit are we talking about? Paul’s discussion in Galatians focuses on the fruit of the Spirit, namely “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) These things can be mimicked up to a point. We can exhibit behaviors that seem to be consistent with the challenge. However, Paul in his discussion of the foremost fruit, love, emphasized the need for us to distinguish the facsimile from the real thing. Genuine fruit can only be achieved through a process of change. Paul points this out in his letter to the Romans.

Therefore I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

The word “transformed” is actually a form of the word “metamorphosis” in the original Greek language. Just as the caterpillar turns into a butterfly, we must suffer the change that results in a mature son or daughter of God. And that change involves an alteration of how we understand ourselves and the world in which we live. That comes about through an engagement with God. But we have to want it and we have to suffer the process that brings about such change.

What I’m talking about is not hocus pocus; it’s not a magic art. And getting “filled” with the Spirit and exhibiting the resulting gifts does not necessarily produce a maturing that sees a thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold yield. It’s getting to know the Father; learning His ways, letting Him touch those hard-to-reach places in our soul. Giving up our sovereignty and yielding to His. It doesn’t just happen, we have to want to become mature Christians, and we have to invest in the process that brings about that maturity. The means that I’ve been focusing on for achieving that maturity are obvious: effective, rigorous prayer; a solid grasp of scripture; and meaningful fellowship with other believers are all necessary for our growth. But what those things need to do is change us. It’s not just a matter of keeping company with like-minded people and mimicking biblical behavior. We need to be willing to go through the process whereby we become someone quite different from what we were. Our world is not what we’ve been told that it is, and our existence is far more dynamic than what the world emphasizes.

And the process involves change. Just as the seed goes through a process that results in mature fruit; so too our lives need to change in order to become the mature Christians that we’re called to be. It’s often uncomfortable. It involves an analysis of how we do life, what our expectations are from day to day, recognition of the significance of circumstances that confront us, and an expectation that the Lord is involved to some extent in everything that pertains to our lives. We need to think about how we communicate with others, how we spend our money, what we allow our eyes and ears to experience from television, the computer, AND the phone. And, according to the Word of God, this will result in the mature fruit that pleases our Father and provides us with what our souls relish: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I think this is, in part, what Paul had in mind when he said he rejoiced in his sufferings for the sake of the church in Colossae, “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” (Colossians 1:25) In order to bear the fruit that pleases the Lord we need to know “the fellowship of His sufferings.” (Philippians 3:10) It’s necessary for our own maturity and for the extension of our Lord’s salvation to a lost and dying world.