Clueless Church

Total church, pure church, simple church, gospel centred church, purpose driven church, everyday church, messy church, Spirit filled church, vintage church, mission shaped church. Doing church is the funky thing to publish books on but I think I've cracked something in looking at Mark 4:27 in the parable of the growing seed.

v26: The farmer has sown the seed which obviously from the context is the sowing of the word (v14). I'm no farmer but sowing seed is hard work, you need to stick at it day in, day out. It's back breaking, gut wrenching work, a lot of sowing seed is monotonous but we are convinced God works through his word and so we keep on sowing it. 2 Timothy 2:6: be the hard working farmer.

Gloriously in v27 we are told ''Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how'' The farmer is clueless as to how the seed grows. He just sleeps.

 v28 tells us that the growth is gradual  ''All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.'' The church is to keep on sowing the seed and the growth is gradual and slow. Disciples are not made in a flash, leaders are not trained instantly. Don't expect the church to go from 0-60 quickly. It's long, hard work sowing the seed. Things happen slowly and gradually. So the farmer works and waits and trusts. The work of the gospel in a church's life is often little by little. I feel like I constantly have to repent of the sin of impatience.

v29 gives us the encouragement of certain harvest ''As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." And when the harvest has come, so has certain joy. This is what the Kingdom of God is like.

I am about to start a new ministry of which I will be President called 'Clueless church' or '4:27'. The strap line is ''he does not know how''. Anybody can join, I am hoping it can become a network with a view to becoming a movement possibly even a coalition just don't call it a denomination!

The simplicity of it all - sow the word, work hard at it, keep sowing. This obviously includes the work of prayer but go to sleep! God gives the growth, you don't know how he does it. Be sure of a gradual but certain harvest. Keep going.