MUTUAL PRODUCTION

Crop production is rarely a single effort by a single person. This is especially true in the spiritual sense. Paul, an apostle, using the metaphor of sowing and reaping says this plainly, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.”

This excuses none of us and includes each of us. Where one plants another waters, another prunes, another hoes weeds. We all do something. We are one in our effort according to our mutual gifts. It is God who gives the growth (other versions say increase). The seeds we sow are for the Kingdom to expand.

“Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” Jesus