ART and spiritual SOIL

The parable of the Sower (or perhaps better named, the parable of the Soils) has always been a mystery to me. Over the years, I have interpreted it differently.

During the leaders' retreat of la fonderie in September, Jim had us reflect on this parable again. He also led a Bible study on it that I attended a couple of months ago.

In the current issue of Relevant Magazine (issue 26, May/June 2007), Kyle Strobel has some useful reflections on this in his article "ART and Spiritual SOIL." He writes:

As our conversations turn more and more to affecting a world in desperate need of love, redemption and healing, we have to start with the awful reality that we are a people whose soil has become hardened. Too often our vision of God, life and love becomes solidified to the degree that not even God, His Word or our community of fellow believers can break through. The world needs people who are bearing fruit, but instead it reaps the misery of those who have failed to be fruitful.

The great tragedy is that those of us who are the most familiar with the Church and the Bible are often more like the Pharisees that not-explaining to God that He has it wrong, and that our story takes precedence of His. Whenever we do this, we neuter the Word to match our lifestyle, preferences and desires; we become a movement without the kingdom and a people without a king.

We don't just need excitement, programs, and cultural sensitivity--we need to be believers who are in constant awe of the newness of God's action among His people. We need to be on a journey of belief formation, where the soil of our hearts is continually tilled by the deep and penetrating activity of the Holy Spirit, the community we journey with and the Word that guides us. More than ever, we need to resist the temptaton to reshape God in our image--and instead be willing to be radically transformed by the God who put on flesh and dwelt among us. We need to sit on the old marble floor and see the painting anew, basking in its beauty over and against the beauty we have created for it. We need to take a journey of formation with Jesus as our guide.