Blue Ribbon Pumpkins!

Among all the various hats I wear, I decided this year to put on the gardener hat. This year, as I look out my kitchen window, I have the pleasure of seeing a massive garden. A garden that is just about 900 square feet. Yeah, that's no joke. This thing is huge! As intimidating as it was knowing that I was going to have to work that garden, I found some sense of excitement as I planted and watered and protected it from birds and other critters. We bought mostly starter plants that had begun growing and planted them, and now we are waiting for their return.

Two sections of the garden are potatoes: one section is sweet potatoes, and the other is white potatoes. These are the most frustrating for me because you have to wait until August to reap the benefit! Other plants, like peppers and string beans, are already showing signs of life and I saw one bean already yesterday! It's an exciting thing when your work comes to reality.

As I was driving by the garden on the way to church this morning, I had an interesting thought: Being a gardener is a whole lot like being a pastor. Now, obviously they are much different, but hear me out on the interesting epiphany I had as I drove the next 4 miles past the garden to my office at church. As a pastor, it is my job to look out for the people in the congregation. I encourage them, visit them, pray for them, and help them any way that I can. All of these things are with the intent to grow them to be more mature as Christians, as well as individuals. You probably saw this comparison coming. This is the obvious, not-so-profound comparison. Here's the one that grabbed me this morning: I don't know which of my plants in the garden are going to be successful. I want every one of them to thrive and grow, but some will not be very abundant, or some may just wither away, but there are those who will take that Miracle Gro that I fed them and grow incredibly. Those prize winning giant pumpkins that you see in the newspaper came from the same garden that produced a few duds, too.

The profundity and challenge is not to focus only on the successful parts of the garden, and I think we err on that side of gardening, as well as ministry. It's very easy to take a picture of my beautiful red hot chili pepper plants and post it on Facebook, but I am certainly not going to put any pictures of the sweet potato plant that my son pulled out and planted in a new spot that currently sports a yellowy-brown hue.

Here's the challenge: if I put them in my garden, they're my concern. If God put you in my church, then you're my concern! But don't forget the part where the illustration breaks down. In my garden, I'm responsible for everything that goes on. In our church, you can help the other plants, I mean people, to grow and thrive! Paul writes in Galatians (In the Pastor Chris Paraphrase that fits the blog this morning) If someone is withering in their spiritual garden, you who are healthy can help them grow to make the garden successful!

Look around your garden and see who you are planted next to. Can you encourage them? Have they been pulled up by a 3 year old and planted elsewhere? Have they been picked at by some pesky critters? Chances are, you'll need some extra care soon. We can't all be prize winning pumpkins, but we can encourage each other towards that!

Galatians 6:1 "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness..."