Church Alive: Demonstration Plot


In early 20th century America, modern science brought great advances to farming.  State universities developed agricultural schools, which trained farmers-to-be in their craft and developed new farming methods.  

These schools had test facilities for farming that experimented with seeds, soil, and much more.  They often developed demonstration plots.  These demonstration plots showed what was possible, what could be.  They showed farmers new possibilities for improving their farms and income.

Jesus' teachings suggest that he intended his church to be a demonstration plot for his kingdom.  In his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, we see the kinds of attitudes and actions kingdom citizens were to have.  His followers were to live in this world according to the values of the kingdom to come.  They were to be distinctive, showing what could be and would be when his kingdom came fully.  

The most distinctive value of this demonstration plot was love.  John 13:34-35 records that Jesus commanded his followers to love each other the way he loved them.  The world would know they were his followers by their love for one another.

The apostle Paul also referred to the distinctive quality of relations in the church.  In Ephesians 4:25-32, he gave practical guidelines for them, ultimately calling on them to forgive each other the way God in Christ loved and forgave them!

While God calls the church to penetrate its community with Christ's presence, the church needs a stable base for its missional sorties!  It's much easier to be the presence of Christ at work, or school, or anyplace else when we know we have a community that loves and supports us.  

Sadly, Jesus' command to us to love each other is the most difficult command he gave us.  People are more willing to die for their faith in Christ than they are to love each other!  

Jesus set a high standard, knowing we would never fully reach it.  The early church never did.  Paul's admonitions in Ephesians show that as great as that church was, they were still working on it!

The same goes for us.  Though the standard high, we need to keep stretching for it, so the world can see by our love for each other that Jesus is real.

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