Missional, ORGANIC, Holistic...
organic adj 1: being or relating to or derived from or having properties characteristic of living organisms 2: constitutional in the structure of something (especially your physical makeup) n : a fertilizer that is derived from animal or vegetable matter [syn: {organic fertilizer}]
A few weeks ago I began a new series of posts entitled Three Good Words: Missional, Organic, Holistic. I want to continue with the second of these three words, organic. Let me first begin by asking you what you think this word means as it relates to life in the church. There is no doubt that it has become something of a suburban buzzword. When I go to buy coffee I have a choice. I can buy the organically grown coffee or the coffee that was somehow grown without any organic means whatsoever. What!?
This little coffee illustration points out the fact that the word has lost some of its meaning and been infused with meaning that is dependent upon the context of the conversation. So, to begin our discussion let me ask: If a church were to become "organic" what would that look like? (I have purposefully not given much content, other than the dictionary definition, to the question. Let's wrestle with this a bit.)
posted by The Wheatland Mission @ 8:39 PM
4 Comments:
Okay, I'll dive in, and this is all off the cuff. Organic. You know, w/ my farm girl background, organic often meant a smaller yield, smaller product, and potentially insect infested crop. (I think that's changed some over the years.) In that vein, many African farmers are "organic" (not by choice, but by lack of money to do otherwise,) and look at their diseases of both plant and people from all the insect and mosquito infestation for lack of pesticides. (For those who are die-hard "buy only organic", bear w/ me). So, how does this cross over to an organic church and where am I going w/ this? All-naturale and organic in the sense of "church" or "religion" would parallel to God being the ultimate organic matter. (Forgive the simplifying of God for a moment.) So, anything other than God - the true and ultimate organic product- is unnecessary and actually quite harmful. Saying God is the organic matter in this case would lead me to say that to use any other product outside of Him would indeed result in very bad yield, product, and surely disease of both the host plant and the farmer. I hope that's not too far out there, and I'm not looking to debate organic farming. I just function best thinking in analogies and this was my knee-jerk thought that erupted. Hope it brings forth more comments and thoughts.
That is great! Thanks for being the first out on the limb. I'll now climb out there with you. I think you are really on to something important and I like the point you make about keeping faithful to God by being organic. You don't want to mix your relationship with God with other impurities, preservatives, etc. Good stuff. Thanks, again.
I think of compost when I think of organic.
My neighbor Kim (has been coming to WM by the way) has a compost bin out back. The symbolism she finds from her "weird fascination" with her compost pile is pretty cool. I've heard her describe how plant refuse from the year before ends up contributing again to the growth process of beautiful more healthy plants the following year.
If Christ is the original organic, if Christ is our fertilizer, we become more complete with Him, more like him, healthier. He takes us as we are, adds to our composition and grows us. He is part of our process, he is the constant in our process, continually using ALL of us to make us what He wants us to be.
If you get a bunch of people together who acknowledge this organic process, isn't it then possible even more fertilization occurs?
Melanie,
That is cool. Here is a phrase I do not think I have heard prior to this discussion, "if Christ is our fertilizer". I love that! It sound good to me.
In addition, the idea of the refuse/compost pile makes me think of death and new life. Jesus talked about the "grain of wheat" that has to fall into the ground and die before any life comes from it. This is good stuff.
I appreciate your input.
Paul
Post a Comment
<< Home