On a remote island near the Arctic Ocean, scientists have built a seed bank. It’s forty-three stories underground inside a frozen mountain. The only purpose for the vault is to protect millions of seeds of the most important food crops around the world.
Informally, it’s called the “Doomsday Vault.” That’s because the vault is designed to protect the seeds from nuclear holocaust or natural disasters. Scientists say the seeds can last for ten thousand years in the vault.
It's good we've got a backup for our most important crops. But when I read the story, it made me think of something else.
Too many of our churches have become seed vaults.
In those churches, members come into the seed vault every Sunday to sing about the seed and hear about the seed and break into small groups to study the seed. But they never get around to scattering the seed of Christ’s words out where it can do some good.
In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13), Jesus talked about a sower scattering seed across four types of soil. When we study the story, it makes us wonder, “What type of soil am I?” We should consider that question, but Jesus also meant us to ask, “What kind of sower am I?”
When Jesus called you into a relationship with him, he gave you a bag of seed to strap over your shoulder. Maybe it’s been a long time since you reached your hand into the bag, scooped up some seed, and scattered it among the people you know.
Don’t reduce your church to just a seed bank. Instead, think of it as a seed store where you come and get everything you need to do the work of spreading God’s good news!
Tom
P.S., my thanks to Dr. Bruce Murray for preaching for me while I was away. I used the time off to return to Eastland, Texas, to promote my new novel. It’s closely based on events that happened in that county in the 1920s. I posted some photos of the weekend events here. If you want a copy of the book, email me to arrange a pickup in Austin. If you don’t live in Austin and you want a signed copy of the book, order directly from me at this site (U.S. orders only). For other options, I have a list of vendors at my website.
Sign up here to receive Tom Goodman’s weekly devotional in your email inbox. Tom serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter.