Last Sunday for our Down to Earth workshop we talked about pollination. One type of pollination we talked about is cross pollination. 

Most plant flowers contain both the male and female parts that are required for successful pollination. Some, however, require cross pollination and need the connection with other flowers in order to produce fruit. 

The same is true for christians. We will not be fruitful on our own. We need to work together as the whole body of Christ in order to achieve our potential and be fruitful, multiplying disciples.  

These words from the letter to the Hebrews remind us of the importance of living life together and being connected.  

Hebrews 10:23-25 (NLT)

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Wow – there’s some gems in those verses. How do we hold unwavering to hope? First, it is because we can trust God. Second, it is because our fellow Christ followers are coming up with all sorts of ideas on how they can motivate us to live out that hope in love and by doing good. When we gather, we gather to encourage each other to keep going. 

As one of Adrian’s favourite verses says,  As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. (Proverbs 27:17)

This Proverb highlights the value that there is in relationships – relationships which have the goal to get the best from each other.  

John Wesley’s is quoted as saying that the bible knows nothing of solitary religion. Among his hundreds of sermons, he wrote a 19 sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount. In his fourth sermon of the series he talks about the importance of christianity being a corporate and social activity not a private activity. See a summary and a link to the whole sermon here   

We only need to look to nature to see how God works through His creation to be able to better understand our need to be around other believers. We’ve talked about cross pollination and how it can help to produce fruit and stronger healthier fruit but we also see it in the connections between plants, how plants that like shade need the protection of larger canopy trees, companion planting in the vegetable garden. In nature, every aspect needs to work together with other parts of nature and the same is true of the church.  

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it (1Corinthians 12:27 (NLT)

Even though we are individual members, we need the rest of the body to function in the way they were designed to, as each part has a unique function that is designed to work in unison with the other.

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. Romans 12:4-5 (NLT)

Can you imagine if your foot was given the freedom to decide that it didn’t want to hang out with the rest of your body?  Or how about your eyes? What if they decided they didn’t want to work with the brain to produce those images that they were taking so you could fully understand and appreciate what the beauty of the sun looked like as it shines down upon a beautiful blooming flower?

The Bible makes it pretty clear that we are to work together as one body even though we are made up of many individual members.  Individual doesn’t mean that we are to go our own way, it means that we are uniquely made one at a time and are perfectly made to work in conjunction with others.  

There are many other areas of cross pollination we need as well—between young and old, male and female, between ethnic and cultural groups. 

Another spiritual metaphor for pollination is for spreading the gospel. If God’s grace is the pollen then we act as pollinators as we share that grace with others. 

Shay Mason has written a short devotion about this. https://www.shaysmason.com/home/bee-a-pollinator

As far as songs that relate to this topic, I had a bit of difficulty finding some but I wanted to share a song which some of you may know that I was listening to this week and it was particularly meaningful. 

 

Voice of Truth – Casting Crowns

These are the lyrics

Oh what I would do to have the kind of faith it takes

To climb out of this boat I’m in onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is

And He’s holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me

Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed

The waves they keep on telling me time and time again. “Boy, you’ll never win!”

“You’ll never win!”

But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story

The Voice of Truth says, “Do not be afraid!”

And the Voice of Truth says, “This is for My glory”

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth

Oh what I would do to have the kind of strength it takes

To stand before a giant with just a sling and a stone

Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors shaking in their armor

Wishing they’d have had the strength to stand

But the giant’s calling out my name and he laughs at me

Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed

The giant keeps on telling me time and time again. “Boy you’ll never win!”

“You’ll never win!”

But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story

The Voice of Truth says, “Do not be afraid!”

And the Voice of Truth says, “This is for My glory”

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth

But the stone was just the right size to put the giant on the ground

And the waves they don’t seem so high on top of them lookin’ down

I will soar with the wings of eagles when I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus

Singing over me

But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story

The Voice of Truth says, “Do not be afraid!”

And the Voice of Truth says, “This is for My glory”

Out of all the voices calling out to me (calling out to me)

I will choose to listen and believe

I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth

I will listen and believe

I will listen and believe the Voice of truth

I will listen and believe

Cause Jesus you are the voice of truth

And I will listen to you, you are