Cross Pollination

"If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas." (George Bernard Shaw)

God deposits a cache of spiritual treasure in each community. Rather than digging deeply into our local treasure troves for sustenance, we have become accustomed to sourcing our spiritual supplies from a small number of well known Christian influencers. We borrowed this practice from the world around us, yet we are called to be a distinctive community that marches to a different drum. Like the Hebrews, our charge is to function in an entirely different way than the surrounding cultures.

When we truly embrace the idea of God’s people functioning as a kingdom of priests, our eyes will open to a vast field of undiscovered treasure. Each follower of Jesus has something important to bring to the table.

This realization can trigger two responses:
(1) Becoming a treasure hunter.
(2) Cross-pollinating this treasure far and wide.

Of course, not everything that emerges in local community life has far reaching ramifications. But some treasures can really fire up our imaginations.

Malcolm du Plessis