The "Automatic" Growth of the Kingdom of God

Scripture — Mark 4:26–29 (NRSV)

[Jesus] also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle because the harvest has come.”

Devotion

During my lifetime, I have seen a wide variety of movements that promised to renew the church, grow the church, or do both. I’m thinking, for example, of these movements and strategies: charismatic, the church growth small group, seeker-sensitive, purpose-driven, praise and worship music, social justice, emergent church, missional church, faith-work, multi-site church, and online church. I’m sure I’ve missed a few, since my perspective is limited by my life experience.

I have learned a great deal from many of these movements and believe that each of them had important things to teach the church. But it often seemed to me that certain people, leaders in a particular movement, would make claims for their movement that were not altogether wise. They would talk as if, now, finally, God had revealed the once-for-all solution to all the church’s ills. Do their thing, use their formula, imitate their churches, and your church will grow big and deep. Yet a few years later, it turns out they didn’t have the perfect solution. And, in many cases, the leaders of one particular movement went on to the next one, sometimes with similar zeal that spilled over into hubris.

I wish leaders like this, including me, by the way, would pay more attention to the parables of Jesus in Mark 4. In this chapter, Jesus tells several agricultural-themed parables to teach his disciples about the kingdom of God. The first, as we have seen, is the so-called Parable of the Sower (4:3–8). The second focuses on the mysterious way in which the kingdom of God grows: “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head” (4:26–28).

In the time of Jesus, many people worked as farmers. But the science of horticulture was relatively primitive. People knew that seeds grew, but they didn’t know what explained this growth. Thus, the farmer who “scatters seed on the ground” knows that it grows, though “he does not know how” (4:27). From his perspective, the soil produces grain “all by itself,” as if by magic (4:28). Interestingly, the Greek word translated here as “of itself” is automatē, the root of our word “automatic.” From the point of view of the first-century farmer, seed grows automatically.

What does this say to us about the kingdom of God? It reminds us that God is sovereign, and God’s kingdom isn’t something we can control. Many of us who are leaders in life and work like to be in charge. We like to make sure that things operate according to plan. We want to ensure results. But this penchant of ours for control can become quite frustrated when it comes to God’s kingdom. God’s ways are not our ways. God acts sovereignly, often in a manner we don’t quite fathom. We can feel rather like the farmer in Jesus’ parable. We know that God’s kingdom is growing, but we can’t figure out exactly how. It can feel, well, automatic.

If we need to be in control, this can feel frustrating, to be sure. But if we can stand back and surrender control to the Lord, we are in a position to marvel at the mystery and mercy of God’s work. We can be joyfully surprised when God does things that weren’t in our plan. We can humble ourselves before the Lord, confessing both our dependence on him and our need for his wisdom to guide us. We can rejoice when we see God’s kingdom growing “automatically” in our lives.

Now, I’m not suggesting that people who learn about God’s ways, who understand how churches work, who have wise things to say about leadership, and who coach churches and church leaders on their effectiveness are wrong to share their wisdom. I have learned so much from people who have been generous in sharing what they have learned with me. But I’m especially appreciative of those who share graciously and humbly. I’m doubly appreciative when they clearly believe that God is sovereign and can do things beyond their expertise and expectations. After all, our God is not a cookie-cutter God, and God’s ways cannot be reduced to cookie-cutter solutions.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Parables at Work (Mark 4:26-29 and 13:32-37).