garden church

"The church should be more like a community garden and less like a supermarket." Arthur Sido

I like this statement. It puts two of my worlds together - gardening and church. These worlds have more in common than we may think. Wasn't it Jesus that talked about his kingdom being like a mustard seed and about him being the vine and us the branches? Jesus often used organic illustrations when describing God's purposes. God's kingdom is organic in nature; spiritual seeds are sown, new life grows, bears fruit and multiplies. The same principles in a physical gardening are at work in the "spiritual garden". Just like there are pest in the physical garden there are pest in the spiritual. Just like there are seasons to the physical there are seasons to the spiritual. We can learn a lot from gardening. Heck, wasn't it a garden we were placed in in the beginning?

If you want to read more of where the quote came from check out the blog entry Gospel Grocery Stores.