Well,
One thing that I've promised is that with a move to a new state and new position is that I would be writing more. So here I am. I'll be trying to do 2 posts a week, even if they are just reaction pieces to someone else's article.
I was listening to a piece by Ken Myers (https://marshillaudio.org), and he was talking about when he first got a mentor. I don't remember the exact lecture, but he mentioned that his mentor told him that of first importance for spiritual, personal, and (or?) professional growth was to get a hobby that involved him using his hands, such as gardening or woodworking. I thought this was quite interesting, and it came back to me today while working outside weeding, digging a border and working outside at our new house.
As I worked I began to think about Christ's metaphors for the kingdom, including seeds, farmers with weeds, parties, and trees. What I began to question is the common response we all get when we think about the images Jesus used. We wonder, "Why did Jesus talk so much about farmers, tenant workers and a day's wage, wicked servants, and birds in trees?" The answer we have heard and pass on says, "Because Jesus lived in an agricultural context, so, as a good rhetor, he addressed his audience where they were. he used farmers and laborers as illustrations of the Kingdom so that those who worked in fields could understand him."
I wonder if this is so. Consider: in Matthew 22 Jesus tells of a wedding feast that a king is throwing for his son. Now, we don't have kings in America, so would Jesus simply change his metaphor? Perhaps President Obama would throw a party for a daughter? Perhaps the narrative would shift to rave at the coolest club in downtown Chicago? Or, consider the many agricultural images used, "the flowers neither weave nor spin..." and "the birds of the air..." Would Jesus shift, or perhaps better, could Jesus shift to using images of computers, cell phones, and automobiles?
My question is this: is there something inherently more Kingdom of God in the natural world that is simply not present in the world of technology and science? What if in order to better understand Christ in his context, and Christ in our day, we need to get our hands dirty in creation? What might this mean for curriculum and homework? Wood shop? Hunting and fishing class? A school garden?
**Update: it may have actually been a piece by Andrew Kern.
I think that the natural world allows for us to stop marveling at our own brilliance and see the mundane complexity of every day life. Weeding is a great example. We want our lawns free of weeds, we think of them as ugly and useless. In spite of our best efforts, these plants outsmart us at every turn. Even the application of herbicides don't get rid of them often and in that application, we select for those who are resistant. In addition to this ability to change, they also take light and air as their fuel to grow. Not gas or coal and iron, but on their own they grow using light and air in an incredible alchemy. Then once they have grown, they create hundreds of seeds that can float on the air to create new dandelions with new combinations of traits. It is a staggering accomplishment and we hate them for how good they are at it all.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't that the coolest club in downtown Chicago, or the greatest skyscrapers are not more, "Kingdom of God" but as a metaphor, they are less complex. I would say that it certainly wouldn't hurt to have kids get their hands dirty to learn about the Kingdom.
Great point, Josh. That seems to always be the problem with human solutions: they are one dimensional single fixes--import ivy to support rocks, import herbivore to eat ivy, import carnivore to eat herbivore.
ReplyDelete