Good News for the Grower

This will not be a popular read; it is, however, all too true. Many will quietly despise its message. It’s not a sensational message so it won’t pique the interest of the numbers it should — so it will be.

It’s a hard message for those who don’t or won’t relate, and those in this locale who read it will feel sharp dissonance. I can tell you the truth… a confession of sorts; as a truth writer, too often I’ve been swayed to write what will be popular. This article departs from appeasing.

Even if what you read so far, you’re not drawn to continue reading, please, I urge you, stick with me.

So, here it is:

The good news of Jesus —
the gospel no less —
is ultimately good news only for the grower.

There. I said it.

In this day, as in any day, but particularly in this entitled age, an age where outrage gets all the attention, we have come to magnify the good news as salvation for anyone who believes. It’s true. God’s grace is copiously shed abroad for all humanity, but it’s only a comparative precious few who ever experience the good news in their life, even as it ripples out into others’ lives who attest to the incontrovertible fruit that flourishes within them, that nourishes others.

Ah, you might think this is elitist language. Sounds like it. There is nothing elitist about this; quite the contrary. It’s the elitist who completely misses the Kingdom that God has designated for the grower alone to enjoy.

Here is a portrait of the grower:

They bear. They really do. Through years of persistence and perseverance and patience they’ve learned, through hard-won experience, that growth is the compensation suffering the surrender of their needs produces. They do without. And with a smile. Not proudly as if they’re better. They know they’re no better!

Evidence of this is thankfulness amid sacrifice;
that ability to live contented without desires being met.

Paul encapsulated this in Philippians 4:12 — “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” (ESV)

Anyone can “abound,” but not everyone can willingly be “brought low.” And yet, it’s only those who “know how to be brought low” who can “abound” appropriately. It takes years to learn these lessons. And it takes refinement through many trials. It even takes place through the delighted acknowledgement that life is full of trial; the acceptance that life is meant to be like this — how’s that for a paradigm shift?

There are two groups of people who will be challenged most from what I’ve written above, but what is written above is beyond neither group. Indeed, one group is in the box seat.

The first group knows all the right doctrine. And they tend to have good jobs, lovely families, pleasant churches, and nice possessions — ‘blessed’ lives. They have life squared away. But they haven’t as yet suffered. Or, they haven’t as yet connected with suffering. Compassion hasn’t yet been formed. They haven’t yet been broken. Theology hasn’t yet transcended theory. It hasn’t yet landed. There is dross yet to be burned off. It’s not their fault. And they don’t know it.

The second group is oppositely situated. They have suffered. They have suffered so much that life itself is trauma. This is the group in the box seat. But first they must make the journey that draws meaning from what they’ve suffered. If the first group haven’t yet landed, this second group have crash landed. Their suffering crushed them so much they have a momentous challenge to recover. But they have hope. Further suffering is not a surprise to this group and previous trauma can be converted through God’s grace into a requiem of poise if they can accept the injustice of their past.

Both the above groups have the challenge (and the opportunity) of growth ahead of them. Truth be known, we all fit into one or both groups.

The first is about to get a rude shock. If they can stay themselves in the boggy mire of lament, they have hope. The second group must convert hell into growth. But only through the grace of God. The second group are closer to the Kingdom of God than the first are. But the first group have an advantage that it’s only humility (to overcome the entitlement of pride) that breeches the divide. For the second group, it’s courage (to overcome paralysing fear).

The grower is this: they’ve died; though they’ve died, they live! They’re revenants. No longer are they driven by the winds of their wanton desires. They can and do go without. Because, they’ve experienced the rewards of the Kingdom, which is an inside job far beyond description.

Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash