Monday, April 30, 2007

But I like the taste of corn...

"In Kitui, a stony area to the east of Mt. Kenya, farmers have not harvested their main crop, corn, in five years...farmers continue to plant corn even though it requires more rain than they typically receive. Cassava, pigeon peas, and sorghum are better suited to dry-land farming, and those who plant them are harvesting plentifully right now. Still, farmers prefer the taste of corn, so they keep planting it even though they do not harvest." Tim Stafford (Christianity Today, May 2007, p.45)

It is tempting to be condescending when you read about pre-modern farmers doing the same thing year after year without results, but how many of our churches have a similar problem. I know at least one or two examples of churches in our network that continue to do the same things year after year but seem surprised that their results aren’t changing.

How about you? Could it be that you're experiencing a lack of harvest because you keeping planting on the basis of your own personal preferences rather than the context in which God has placed you?