Groundwork

In Genesis, God created us—all of us—from the dirt. Not soil. Dirt. Because by scientific definition, dirt and soil are two different things. Dirt is composed of lifeless particles with no layers of life-giving history. Soil, on the other hand, is composed of layers of organic history, some living and some once living, compacted over time to create a vibrant mix into which a seed can take root. We began as dirt and became living dirt when God shaped us with God’s hands and breathed the breath of life into us. And things have never been the same.

“Remember where you came from” is a familiar saying, especially among the hometowns and churches that have dotted the landscape of my life. And while dirt can be seen in a negative fashion, the truth we are compelled to remember is that we all came from dirt. So, like Carver taking a prayer walk in the woods, or by taking a trek along a shoreline or through a park, getting close to the land keeps us grounded in our purpose. As the apostle Paul wrote, “We are God’s field, God’s farm” (1 Corinthians 3:9 New Century Version). Dirt is meant to live so something can be grown.

When my book Preparing Fields for Seasons of Change was published by Trilogy Christian Publishing in August 2020, readers embraced the sacred connection between faith and the land where we are placed for such a time as this. Some people who read the book and took the study asked for more direction on how the land connects us to the spiritually healthy and vibrant life we need to be effective disciples of Christ. Wanting to help answer that question, I turned to the person with the best stories and who knew the lay of the divine land intimately: Jesus.

Jesus’s agricultural parables give rich direction on how to spiritually grow and transform believers into disciples on a mission of fruit-bearing, if we look beneath the surface of the familiar. After all, disciples are workers on God’s farm (1 Corinthians 3:9 NCV), and farms are meant to have something grow in them that will bring life to others. But just “going” to the land won’t do it; we need to get the soil in our hearts cultivated first in order to receive fresh kingdom plantings.

I shared the ideas presented in Groundwork as a sermon series, first in fall 2020 at Nelson’s Memorial Church in Hebron, Maryland, and then a reworked version of Groundwork as a Lenten sermon series in 2021 on the Millington-Crumpton Charge in Maryland (Asbury, Crumpton, and Double Creek United Methodist churches). But there was more to do than just offer insight through the agricultural parables in a sermon series. More ground needed to be pulled up and overturned: cultivation of the individual soul was needed.

Cultivation: to promote growth and nurture. Cultivation is not a single action but a process that not only turns soil over to prepare for seeds, it’s a process that gets rid of the weeds that could potentially choke out future growth. By taking a deeper look into Jesus’s parables that are based on agricultural references and places, direction can be found on how to become spiritually healthy disciples on a mission for the Lord.

Each chapter in the book retells a parable set in the farm fields, but just knowing the story is only the beginning. Each parable examines and explores deeper to get at the roots needed for spiritual growth and healthy discipleship. Within the chapter, challenges in current culture are lifted up as a means to pollinate faith for the fresh growth of fruit. Without pollen from another source entering the farmer’s field, fruit will never grow. The same truth holds for our field of faith.

Each chapter leads us on another faithful stop of our journey with Jesus. a journey that involves inward spiritual cultivation with outward growth seen in our discipleship.