reBuild: Planting Seeds
When it’s time to rebuild, we need to start with a very important choice: what will we leave behind and what will we plant in its place?
Photo by Brian McGowan on Unsplash
I didn’t eat vegetables for about seven years straight. Today, I planted a whole bunch of ‘em.
My relationship with foods containing chlorophyll has been rocky at best. Just ask my mother. She endured those seven years of my childhood when I refused to eat anything green at all, even green jello. I remember sitting at the dinner table for hours stubbornly refusing to eat my veggies despite all the discipline, dessert-deprivation, and desperation my mother could muster. I remember coming up with the brilliant plan of taking a bite of green beans under my mother’s watchful eye and then wiping my mouth with my napkin, spitting them back out and wadding them up so they’d go out with the garbage. I remember getting caught in that little maneuver and how mad my mom was. Her pleas with my pediatrician for advice didn’t fall on deaf ears, but he didn’t have any ideas she hadn’t already tried. The solution? Flintstone vitamins and waiting for me to outgrow the phase. And I did…eventually.
As an adult, I understand and accept how important it is for me to eat my vegetables, but I rarely crave them. I’ve heard that if you grow your own, you also might grow a little more enthusiastic about salads and such. Plus the greens taste better super fresh and organic. Unfortunately, I also have a “brown thumb” capable of escorting the heartiest of plants to a slow and painful death. But last year, I found a solution - an indoor tower that grows plants hydroponically, so no dirt, no weeds, very few bugs, and an automated lighting and watering system. I grew lots of veggies last year. I even ate some of them. And then months later, after all the lettuces bolted and the jalapeno plant grew out of control, my tower clearly needed a reset. A dark green slime began an ambitious campaign to take over the exterior, creeping out of every opening and crevice on the white PVC structure. A couple of weeks ago, I took the whole tower apart to clean away rotten roots, molds, and other nasty growths from the innermost parts.
This week, I began to rebuild.
REBUILD MODE
My fancy automated indoor veggie grower is only one of many things in my life in rebuild mode these days. If you’ve followed my blog or social media over the last year, then you’ve seen the disintegration firsthand. Going back two years, my life now is almost unrecognizable by comparison. Since then, I’ve changed jobs, changed addresses, changed seasons of life and parenting (I’m an empty nester, now), and even changed cars. About the only thing I haven’t changed is my husband - same guy for 26 years now. I can’t say I’ve found stable ground yet or that the dust has truly settled on any of these transitions. My roots haven’t grown very deep where I’m currently planted. And there’s plenty of green slime from my old life still showing through the cracks.
The world around us seems to be going through something of a disintegration, too, doesn’t it? The ravages of a pandemic have stripped us of so much that’s familiar, sent hundreds of thousands into illness or grief, and careened us into an economic crisis that has hundreds of thousands more wondering how they’ll feed their children. Then, the rotten roots of racial tensions, systemic injustices, and violent responses started to creep out into the open. If that didn’t pull apart life as we’ve known it, then the unprecedented vitriol of our present national politics shook many of us loose from our vision of a safe, comfortable, and peaceable America. It seems like it’s all falling apart, and maybe taking the whole thing down to give it a good cleaning doesn’t sound like such a bad idea anymore.
To be clear, I’m not advocating any dismantling of government or anarchy in any way. I’m just saying that the life we’ve known is showing signs of something rotten in the deepest recesses and shadows.
It’s time for us to take a good look at what we’ve been growing. It’s time for a clean up. It’s time to plant some new seeds.
It’s time to rebuild.
IT’S HAPPENED BEFORE
Scripture describes the tearing down and building up of God’s people over and over, but no collapse looms quite as large as the disintegration when God sent the Israelites into exile. No rebuilding project even compares to the massive undertaking they faced when they returned to the Promised Land after a seventy-year time-out in Babylon. They’d avoided “eating their vegetables” for way too long, pretending to obey God and then hiding their deception as deftly as I hid my green beans as a child. As if God didn’t see it all and would let them get away with it forever. If you want to know how far God’s people went in avoiding the things that were good for them but they didn’t really want, Ezekiel chapters 8-11 make things startlingly and graphically clear.
“God took His people down to the quick, reducing their lives, their homes, Jerusalem, and His Temple to rubble. Yet even in the dismantling, He speaks promise after promise of building them back from the ground up.”
Ever since I spent a few years studying and teaching Ezekiel’s prophecies, I’ve marveled at God’s grace to bring His people back to their land and rebuild them. He took them down to the quick, reducing their lives, their homes, Jerusalem, and His Temple to rubble. Yet even in the dismantling, He speaks promise after promise of building them back from the ground up.
“Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it. (Ezekiel 36:33-36 ESV emphasis mine)
These days, I’ve turned my attention to the Scriptures that describe this rebuilding process, both the historical narratives (Ezra and Nehemiah) and the prophetic words God’s speaks during this time (Haggai, Malachi, and Zechariah). What does scriptural rebuilding look like, and what are the pitfalls along the way? What does God point out as most important, and how does anyone tackle this kind of undertaking in the first place?
I’ve got a whole lot of questions. So I’ve been doing a whole lot of studying. Because I’ve got a whole lot of rebuilding to do and I want so very much to do it God’s way.
CHOOSING SEEDS
As I prepare to plant new seeds in my indoor garden, I’m thinking about a few things from my Scriptural study and how good God is to give us pictures in the real world to help us understand His truth and His ways. To follow my brain here, you should know a little bit about my first planting excursion with the indoor garden.
To start with, I was WAY too ambitious on my first go and filled every single available slot on the tower with seedlings. It was way more than I could eat or manage, and things got messy quick. Not that it was all a loss - I had plenty to share with my neighbors which was super fun. But I also had plenty of leggy soon-to-be-slimy plants that I just didn’t have the time to keep up with.
I also discovered that zucchini plants will take over your house if you let them. In three attempts, I succeeded only in growing huge leafy organisms that wrapped around my tower and everything else in reach. The plants produced beautiful yellow flowers which I tried to pollinate with my special little brush (no indoor bees to do that work for me) but I never got a single fruit off any of the plants. Not one. So as I rebuild my tower garden, I’m choosing not to plant zucchini this time. I’m going for broccoli instead. And I’ll only fill about half of the slots with my favorite veggies instead of wasting time and water on other stuff that ended up woefully neglected and in my trash can.
So Lesson One on rebuilding God’s way: we have to look back to see what went right and what went wrong before it all fell apart. Through the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel (among others), God spends an enormous amount of time reviewing over and over what went wrong and how His people ended up in exile. He even connects the length of time in Babylon with the number of times they ran roughshod over His command to give their land a break and trust Him for their food. He told them that the Promised Land would remain empty for 70 years, one for every Sabbath year they ignored (2 Chronicles 36:20-21). It’s just one way God makes it clear to His people that their disintegration and the nastiness creeping out from their insides found its roots in disobedience to Him.
Therefore, using what we learn in looking back, we should carefully choose what seeds to plant as we rebuild. It would simply make no sense to just clean things up and try everything all over again the exact same way, expecting different results. That is the definition of insanity, you know. Sure, life is messy and will always need a clean up on this side of heaven, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn and rebuild better and better each time.
For me, that means rebuilding my garden means choosing different and fewer seeds. For God’s people coming out of exile, that means their rebuilding starts by planting obedience.
One day, Jesus will come and make this whole thing new. Until then, you and I get to use some wisdom and do the best we can based on what we learn along the way.
So let’s take a thoughtful look at the rubble around us before we begin rebuilding. How did we get here in the first place, what’s worth trying again, and what do we choose to not carry forward in hopes of better results? I could go on for hours about all the stuff in my personal life and in the larger world that I think have contributed to the mess. I could talk about selfish choices, laziness, and placing faith in all sorts of things other than God that have predictably failed. I’m taking careful notes of what NOT to do again now that I’m reaping what I unwittingly and thoughtlessly sowed in years and months past. Not that all that collapses comes as a result of bad decisions or even something you and I had control of - that’s just not how life in a broken world works. But I’m convinced I have much to learn here at the beginning before I truly rebuild if I’m willing to take the time to look back.
THIS PRESENT RUBBLE
Can I shift our focus to the world at large for a quick sec? I don’t want to jar anyone with overwhelming and crazy broad generalizations, but I don’t want to ignore the obvious and obviously painful in so many of our lives, either. Because one collapse in particular has kept me up nights and down on my knees in the morning, grieving in the rubble.
It’s the damage done to the reputation of Christ and Christians because of our current national politics.
Yes, I’m going there, and no, I have no comments to make about particular people, issues, or parties. But I’ve sat on the front row of family disputes that have cracked and then left gaping rifts in once-loving relationships. I’ve cringed at harsh and hateful words cast carelessly across the Internet with Jesus’ name attached to them. I personally know people who have either turned their backs on their Christian faith or talked with me about exploring other religions simply because they cannot believe in the Christianity on display through our political conversations and actions in recent months. My stomach aches from sobbing over them.
I’ve searched for answers and insight among the leaders I’ve trusted and new voices I’ve been introduced to, some who share my pain and some who don’t. I found a few articles and podcasts helpful, especially from Christianity Today, the Gospel Coalition, and this blog post from Dr. Joseph Mattera. (note: I don’t share Dr. Mattera’s traditions and practices in many ways, but lots of my friends and family members do, so I appreciate his perspectives) I have people in my close circles who share my pain, and others who have no idea what I’m talking about, and the gap between us feels way to wide to ever cross. And no matter what you and I might think about specific people, issues, or events, THAT SPLIT is the gaping hole that all my tears cannot seem to fill. How did we become so divided when Jesus prayed that we would be one as He and the Father are one (John 17:20-23), and when He told us that the world around us would know that we belong to Him because of our love for one another (John 13:35)? How did we find ourselves so very, very far from the unity Jesus commands for us?
I don’t think the Church in America is beyond help or hope - never in a million years would I believe that. But I do see some real ugliness showing, and I would not be the slightest bit surprised if God chooses to peel back a painful layer or two so He can clean us out and rebuild us. He’s done it before with His chosen nation. Why should He not do it with us?
As I consider where we’ve been, I’ve got a few suggestions of stuff to leave behind, none of which have anything to do with laws or issues or party platforms. I hope we can all agree that we need to leave behind hateful speech, demonizing those we disagree with as if our words (especially on social media) have no consequences. My heart breaks at the thought that so many in our culture see Christians - and therefore Christ - as angry, selfish, judgmental, even violent if we don’t get what we want. The dark slime of Christian Nationalism (idolizing America) that has been creeping around on our insides for while has made it’s ugly appearance and leaves an gross stain on the Church for all to see.
I also urge us to plant unity, grace, and understanding in this new season. Instead of giving into the false dichotomies of “if you disagree with me then you must agree with the other side and they’re obviously wrong so you’re obviously wrong,” I believe God calls us to a higher way. No one party or person has a monopoly on truth. We all have within us the image of God though we reflect Him in different ways, and we’re distorted in different ways, too. Instead, we could learn from each other about the different points of view and experiences that lead us to different conclusions about what’s best for our country instead of all the name-calling. Especially when miles lie between us and our points of view, if we learn to see and love the image of God in each other, I believe we’ll all know God better. And knowing Him better will lead us to better solutions in the here and now.
We’ve all had our part to play in this mess. Whether we were lured into full-blown idolatry or simply sat on the sidelines and watched it happen, I don’t know how we can deny the trouble we’re in collectively as brothers and sisters of faith. Much damage has been done to Christ’s reputation among our neighbors. I’m asking myself what my part has been, what I’ve learned, and what I need to clean up and leave behind. And then I must carefully and intentionally plant different seeds in this next season, seeds that can mature and grow and bear good fruit in the proper time. If you and I just continue doing things the way we always have, we can reasonably expect the same slimy results.
IT STARTS WITH YOU AND ME
Enough with the politics. Let’s get back to our personal lives, because it all ultimately starts with little ole you and me anyway. I suspect that I’m not the only one in a rebuilding project these days. I’ve heard from a few too many of you about the ways life either has already or is falling apart all around you. Whatever rebuilding you might be doing, let me encourage you to take care in the seeds that you’re planting right now. Which ones have you tried in the past that just sucked up resources and made a mess? Which once are worth the effort again? What stays and what goes in the new life that you plant and grow for this next season?
These are just the first few questions I’ll explore through the Scriptures through the rebuilding of God’s people following their exile in Babylon. I’ll write them down for you to consider on your own at the end of each blog post as I go. I’ll use the historical books of Ezra and Nehemiah as a framework, weaving in His words through the prophets as they fall into the timeline. I hope you’ll join me for this project. We have a lot of work in front of us and a lot to learn.
But I believe that we can, with God’s help, rebuild together.
Questions:
What has fallen apart in your life that needs rebuilding?
Looking back, what are some things that you need to leave behind and not include in this next season? These can be habits, relationships, even misinformed beliefs that have proven to produce “slime” and ugliness instead of good fruit over time. Name them clearly so that you can be intentional about leaving them out of the rebuilding process.
What seeds should you plant now as you rebuild? What was missing that could have prevented the collapse in the first place, or mitigated the pain once it all fell down? For example, do you find that you’re missing a particular fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23 - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) and need to plant some seeds in that area now?