A Fresh Perspective - June 1, 2007
The Gospel of Mark (also Matthew) has Jesus' parable about the sower and the soil. This is one of the few parables accompanied by an interpretation. Most New Testament scholars regard the interpretation to be the reflections of the early church, rather than Jesus' actual interpretation. While the parable itself seems to emphasize the sowing of the seed (sowing the word of God), the interpretation emphasizes the kind of reception the word gets.
Some seed lands on the hardened path; it never has an opportunity to take root and grow. Other seed lands in shallow soil that has bedrock underneath. It makes an impressive start, but in the heat of summer, because the roots have no depth, the plants wither and die. Mark talks about some people who fall away from Christ because of hardship and persecution. Still other seed lands in soil with other occupants - thorn weeds, that spring to life with the good seed and choke out their life. These weeds Mark defines as the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of affluence, and desires for other things. These things preoccupy the heart and divert the commitment that would go to Christ and his cause in the world.
Many people read this interpretation and begin to categorize people. "Brother So-and-So is definitely one of these shallow soil Christians." We then point the finger at others judging them and excluding them from our group. That's not a helpful way to read this story. It's better to see the different kinds of soil as possibilities for all of us at any particular time in our lives.
A life-enhancing and life-transforming word may come to us in a variety of ways - through a sermon, song, prayer, a conversation with a friend, the scriptures, a devotional book, a novel, a scene in a movie, etc. On any given day or at any given hour I may respond in any of the ways represented by the different kinds of soil. I could be indifferent or calloused; I could give the word only a shallow hearing refusing to allow it to work any lasting change in my life; I could be too preoccupied with my own agenda and concerns, or too ego-driven, or too busy pursuing what I want, so that I am unable to hear and respond to God's word. I could be, at any given moment, any of these types of soil and so could you.
My hope and prayer is that many of us much of the time can be like the good, healthy soil, where the seed flourishes and produces an abundant harvest. But should we resort to categorizing people, assigning them their place, it is certain evidence that our own hearts are not fertile and open to God's life-changing word.
Chuck Queen is Senior Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, Frankfort (www.ibcfrankfort.com); he welcomes your comments at cqueen@fewpb.net. Look for "A Fresh Perspective" every Friday.