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Lead on Down on the farm The Bible begins and ends in the garden (farm?). Within paragraphs God is ordering the earth to bring forth vegetation — plants yielding seed and trees of every fruit. Flip to the very last page and Revelation speaks of the tree of life with 12 kinds of fruit, one for each month, and the “leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” From beginning to end, the Bible features people of the soil. The first humans are assigned to tend the garden and encouraged to freely eat of it. It ensured physical survival, provided natural beauty, and became a way to fulfill vocations. Three chapters later, God is “walking in the garden in the cool of the day” (Gen. 3:8). A farmer might envision God wading through a field of wheat or strolling along furrows of potatoes. Much later, the Israelites, even in exile, are encouraged to “plant gardens and eat what they produce” (Jer. 29:5). The New Testament, too, has plenty of horticultural images. Jesus speaks of sowers going out to plant, of mustard seeds, of vineyards being pruned, of fig trees that don’t produce. His final prayers and arrest take place in a garden. The Apostle Paul uses tree grafting to depict the integration of Gentiles into the chosen people under the new covenant. What a lovely image of inclusion. The garden is often a parable of the kingdom of God. You don’t have to look far to see farm-related pointers to the ways of God with humanity — soil, planting, water, shade, weeding, thinning, pruning and harvest. The garden — the farm — is a central biblical metaphor. May those who work there see themselves as made in the image of God, and doing the work of God in the garden, on the farm, and in the various gardens of their own lives.
The Marketplace September October 2013
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Want to be a leader? Then exercise the gifts you already have, says John Bowen, professor at Wycliffe College in Toronto. He tells aspiring ministry students that if they have a good sense of who they are and their natural gifts (even business skills), they have a leg up to becoming leaders. Many students may have business experience and may even have started their own companies, “so we’re not giving these people abilities they do not already have,” he says. Instead, seminary gives them a theological framework for what they are doing. Bowen says the New Testament rarely uses the term “leader,” focusing instead on developing God-given gifts (such as teaching, encouraging or being entrepreneurial). “If someone came and said, ‘I feel called to be a leader,’ I would be quite nervous,” says Bowen. “I would ask, ‘in what way do you want to lead; who do you want to lead; why do you want to lead?’ “Whereas, if someone said, ‘I want to learn to be a better servant,’ then I would encourage them to find out what way they are gifted to serve. I think that when you are using your gifts, you probably end up being a leader.” (ChristianWeek) Photo by Brian Gould
