Putting Down Roots

Mark 4:3-9
(3) "Listen! A sower went out to sow.
(4) And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.
(5) Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil.
(6) And when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.
(7) Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.
(8) And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."
(9) And he said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

I just read a chapter on this parable in the textbook for my upcoming parables class. I won't go into everything that the author wrote, but I love the last two sentences:

People think they can look like giant oaks without putting down deep roots. When they realize how much effort it takes to put down deep roots, they too often settle for being bramble bushes. (Snodgrass, Stories With Intent, 176.)

That, to me, summarizes the problem with the attraction-based model of church growth. It's great to get people in the door, but you end up with a lot of false professions of faith based on emotion alone. Or, just as bad are the professions of faith based on the plan to avoid hell. No, the kingdom of God is about having deep roots.

I like to think that my life is lived in such a way that I am putting down deep roots. However, it is easy to see the selfishness in my own heart that I must fight daily. It is easy to see the laziness that prevails all too often. This chapter was a good reminder of how badly I need to work to keep putting down those roots.