“A farmer went out to sow his seed.” Jesus, Mark 4:3
“We work with people—many of whom are included in this book—who care deeply about solving the problems that confound our American agriculture, diet, and food system. This anthology grew out of our concern for the next generation of American farmers, who are inheriting all the problems created over the past decades and yet on whom we are relying to feed us well into the future. We invited a range of talented and experienced farmers and confirmers alike to contribute a letter or essay to this collection. We asked them quite simple, “What would you say to young farmers who are setting out to farm now?” This book is the multifaceted deeply inspiring response to that question.” Jill Isenbarger, Executive Director, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Letters to A Young Farmer
With this title I feel like I’m entering a space where angels fear to tread. But I’m fifty so I’ll give myself permission today to pass on a book written for “millennials” and not for me. Truth is I think most millennials in ministry know a whole lot more than I do about their cohort and the challenges they swim in. But I’m not sure they know anymore than I do about how to make their way through those challenges without sinking in this city. We all need help.
Twenty five years ago my wife and I moved from Atlanta, Georgia to Vancouver and began serving the neighbourhood around Main Street and King Edward Avenue with a faith-full group of people that became known as Cityview. Full of hopes and dreams, the sparkle in our eyes did not always reveal the fears buried behind our confidence. I subscribed to the Big God Theory; although our congregation was small, our hope was firmly set in our Great Big God. He would not fail us. God does not despise the days of small beginnings and neither should we.
I had to give up a big bang theory.
I believe it: every congregation can have a global impact. I still subscribe to a “Big God Theory” but I don’t think congregations need to have a big bang in order to participate faithfully and fully in Jesus’ local and global mission. Abandoning the “big bang” expectation for ministry and mission in the city is really important. Apparently the millennial cohort has been cursed with a nagging impatience. This impatience invites dissatisfaction to seep deep into their work, life, and relationships. It takes a heavy toll on them, especially when the “big bang” never comes. When you put this condition of perpetual impatience next to hard work and low yields and hold up the shiny success stories of extraordinary pastors and communicators, the day in and day out life of ministry and mission is down-right depressing.
I know it. I didn’t have to be a millennial to experience it.
One of the many sources of wisdom framing my life as a missionary pastor has been Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom and the Apostle Paul’s instructions to Timothy. It’s the latter I’d like to lean on today. Paul instructed young Timothy to persevere in ministry even though he likely wanted to quit the difficult assignment he inherited from Paul. The small congregation in Ephesus had become a remnant group. They were trying to keep their heads above the water in the wake of a terrible leadership crisis. Paul’s prescriptions for recovery are extreme. But in general he keeps directing Timothy back to basics of the ministry. Lean into Jesus, the Gospel for all, and discipleship.
But, don’t let Paul’s simplicity in these Letters to Timothy deceive us.
Ministry and mission is complex. Congregational leadership and service is demanding. The metaphors Paul draws for Timothy are revealing. After calling Timothy to be “strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,” Paul instructs him to reflect on the lives of three kinds of people: soldiers, athletes, and farmers. Paul believes Jesus will help Timothy frame the ministry of developing reliable people as he meditates on these metaphors.
2And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 3Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 5Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. 6The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. 2 Timothy 2:2-7, NIV
While I acknowledge with Neil Cole that the trajectory of Paul’s argument in 2 Timothy is for Timothy to consider the “outcomes” of Paul’s life and ultimately Jesus’ life as the supreme example of God-motivated sacrificial service, I have also made it my habit to choose one of these,
the soldier who aims to please his commanding officer,
the athlete who competes according to the rules, and
the hard-working farmer who gets a share of the harvest
for deeper reflection and consideration. Each year I have loaded up on a few books that explore the people and practices from one of these arenas of work.
My favourite has been the hard-working farmer.
For many years I translated the “hard-working” farmer into the realms of the entrepreneurial business person. But for the past several years I have been more inclined to put the “hard-working farmer” back in the realm of the local subsistence farmer or market gardener. This shift has been most helpful for me as a pastor and church planter interested in the expansion of the Gospel through transformed lives in urban communities.
Farmers work hard and take immense calculated risks. There is so much they are not in control of, particularly the weather. The market gardener has a “smaller” field and must be interested in the condition of the soil, the placement and organization of seeds within these fields, and the different movements required to respond “profitably” when the harvest comes. Some zones are perennial; some are annual. Some harvests come early, some come late. But in the end the farmer’s experience comes down to this: the harvest comes because someone planted something. And no matter whether the farmer works for herself or is a share-cropper, she knows that her life is directly connected to, but not in control of the harvest. So much patience required! So much faith required! So much cooperative labour is required!
So, Paul wants Timothy to learn from the hard-working farmer. And Jesus wanted His disciples to learn from the farmer (read Mark 4). And so, I want to learn from the hard-working farmer. All this to say, I wish every millennial church planter and pastor would read, Letters to a Young Farmer: On Food, Farming, and Our Future. It’s a beautiful book. It’s written for young famers in the Millennial generation who are considering farming as a life. Thirty-six writers gather from their experience and wisdom to counsel and encourage the young farmer.
Congregational leaders today mirror this age of farming.
The average farmer is in their fifties. The average congregational leader is in their fifties. In an age when “what is going to feed the world” is changing from mega, monocultural, industrial farming to a more positive view of smaller, more diverse, regenerative, market farms the desperate need for local, community-minded missionary pastors is also growing. There are lessons to be gleaned from the counsel of these thirty-six writers. I do not have the time, space, or inclination to make all the reflections for us that translate farming wisdom into leadership counsel for those serving the church and a community. But, just so you have an example consider these nuggets:
Create eclectic awareness in your life. Too many farmers become insult in their lives, reading only their own orthodox materials. If you’re a chemical farmer, read some nonchemical stuff; if you’re a greenie farmer, read some chemical stuff. It’s important to know what the enemy thinks. Read and visit widely. Joel Salatin
Those individuals who desire to become farmers live very good, wholesome lives. Dedication, honesty, and the ability to be hardworking and long-suffering are just a few of the character traits necessary, along with the patience to deal with the weather, markets, labor, bankers, and government, which are just a few of the elements you will experience. Ben Burkett
Build yourself into a healthy and intelligent farmer. Develop your skills in a way that can enable you to be a teacher to there farmers, your neighbours, your community, and beyond, because your work touches every level of human life. Know that they skill you already posses can be taught, but your work ethic, respect for land and people, and sense of responsibility are inherent traits, you must lead by example. Nephi Craig
It never occurred to us that we had no idea how to farm: pests destroyed the entire crop; it was a disaster. Still, it was our own failed attempts and a maniacal commitment to taste that led us to the feet of our local organic farmers. Alice Waters
Farming is a great lifestyle, but it is seriously hard work… Farming can be all-consuming, especially at certain times of the year, and without a plan to protect an acceptable level of personal balance, you may find the farm takes all. Farming will invariably define your family, your self-esteem, your financial choices, your self-image, your priorities, and your time. It will profoundly shape how you interpret life and death, weather, money, time, food, community, exercise, and faith. Make sure your spouse or partner and family are fully on board, and be willing to honestly evaluate whether everyone is defining balance in the same way. Accept that if you are the farmer and your spouse or partner is not, that does not make you intrinsically “righter” than they are. Mary-Howell Martens
Dear Millennial Church Planter
Reading Letters to A Young Farmer will cultivate an appreciation for farming and farmers, the ground we share, and the necessity of the farmer for our lives. It’s a dangerous read. It will appeal to your most noble virtues. You may want to drop everything, get your hands in the dirt, and become a farmer. Hopefully you will want to go out and plant something. Hopefully you will develop the patience and faith of the hard-working farmer. Hopefully you will want to take up Wendell Berry’s last words in the book’s CODA:
Practice resurrection.
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