Psalm 63: 1
O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
This verse has played over and over in my mind, as I have gradually watched the playground near my house turn from lush green, to brown, to dust over the last few weeks. It has made me wonder if some of our churches have suffered the same fate over the last decades – congregations that were thriving and vibrant are now tired and depleted.
I’ve done a bit of research – apparently not all lawns that look dead, are dead – when stressed, they slow or halt growth and though they turn brown, the crown and roots may still be alive. Could this be the same in our churches? How do we check? Three ways according to the lawn research.
Firstly, there’s the ‘tug test’. Take some of the browny stalks and gently pull – if you get some resistance, the roots are alive; if it comes out easily, the plant is dead. If we apply such a test to our church – confront them with some of the challenges we’re facing in the circuit for example – how do they respond? Do they give up easily, or do they resist and fight on?
Secondly, give the plant a ‘crown inspection’. Look at where the blades and roots meet – are they firm and white or brown and mushy? In our churches do we have strong roots – beliefs in Our God, faith in Him or are we a bit wishy washy, have we become complacent over the years?
Thirdly, look for growth. If you can see any sign however small, of green shoots or new life, your grass is living and you have hope for its future.
What about our church? It’s not about age or number of the people attending but whether they are growing spiritually. Are new people attending? Are those coming being blessed and changed by what they hear and experience?
So, how can we revive our brown brittle fields?
As in the case of the natural world, we need water -regular and deep, as early in the day as possible. Showers of blessing from Jesus ‘The living Water’. We need to be mowed with a sharp blade – a picture of being cut down to size – we need to be humble before God, confess our sins so that He can forgive and get rid of all that holds us back and keeps us from Him. A lawn needs to be aerated, punctured, softened to improve the penetration of nutrients. Our hearts need to be softened too to allow the Spirit room to come into our lives, promote growth and give insights, building us up from within and staying with us as we grow, making us fruitful.
We need to be overseeded with God’s Word, root out pests and diseases – the temptations and sins that pull us down and encourage each other – like having a healthy soil habitat around us supporting each other and strengthening the whole lawn as one. It starts with each of us – each single blade – together our churches can be revitalised and flourish even through a time of spiritual drought.