The Greenhouse…
Four years ago when God called us to set out and pursue this idea of doing discipleship while living among and loving the “least of these,” it all started with a thought that He planted in my mind. Even though the dream had been conceived in my heart, it was two long difficult years of pregnancy before the dream was actually born. It seems God’s been at it again because I’ve got this idea planted in my brain that just keeps growing and won’t let me go.
I’ve miscarried a lot of dreams. Ideas that I conceived in my mind, and then unsuccessfully tried to birth in my own strength. I think that maybe some of those painful past experiences have played a part in me keeping dreams to myself for longer than God has wanted. The more I pray about it though, the more I realize that this dream is as old as Eden and it’s God that conceived it, not me.
Maybe some background first… I feel like this photograph captures the essence of the field God’s called us to work in. We spend our days fighting off the birds while we spread the seeds of the Gospel in the heat of the sun, on a weed infested concrete slab.
I can’t tell you how many times my heart has leaped for joy when I’ve seen some green growing out of a crack in the concrete. Watching God give birth to spiritual life here is miraculously beautiful and exciting, but I’ve also come to realize that it’s very fragile. It kills me to see the enemy shamelessly undoing what God’s done. The harsh spiritual environment here is toxic to life and growth. Whether it’s the drugs, abuse, alcohol, prostitution, gangs or poverty, there’s always something lurking in the shadows looking to choke out life.
I can’t describe how maddening it is to watch the birds swoop in and eat up all the seed we’ve just scattered. They shamelessly devour it right in front of us, as if we weren’t even there. Sometimes though a seed will find it’s way into a crack in the concrete and eventually peek it’s green little head out, only to be greeted by a relentless sun that roasts the baby plant back into the crack that it came from. Every once in a while we’ll see some sustained growth, only to watch the weeds choke the life out of it before it can become established. It’s heartbreaking to watch.
A few months ago God planted an idea in my mind for a more effective way to reach, raise and multiply those He’s called us to. It came in the form of another picture. The more we’ve prayed about it, the more confident we have become that this picture will come to be. I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but I am unshakably confident that this complementary picture to the cracked concrete slab will come to pass in God’s perfect time and in His perfect way. The picture is of a spiritual greenhouse.
Figuratively, the greenhouse would be a place protected from birds where we could plant seed, and also a place for the baby plants to quickly establish their roots with shade from the sun and without weeds to contend with. The goal would not be to take the baby plants out of the out of the World indefinitely, but rather to protect them from the evil one long enough that they’d have a fighting chance when they return to the slab. In my mind’s eye I can picture a forest of oak trees growing up through what was once a barren slab of cracked concrete. I’m sitting here crying thinking about it.
Literally the greenhouse would be a piece of land, relatively close to the concrete slab, that God would provide. It would be a place filled with trees, animals, love and life, instead of concrete, steel, hate and death. A place where we could bring broken people for an afternoon or an entire Summer with the purpose of connecting them with God in an environment that is free from drugs, abuse, alcohol, prostitution and gangs. A place where relationships could flourish, trust could be developed, innocence could be restored, vision and hope could be imparted, the broken could be healed, the prisoners could be set free, the hungry could be filled, and ultimately an army could be raised up that would be transplanted back to the concrete slab we’ve been called to, and join us in our battle to rescue the perishing and care for the dying.
This is clearly bigger than me, but not our God, and that’s why I’d love to invite you to join me in praying this picture into existence.
Faith, hope & LOVE, jonathan
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.”
-Isaiah 61:1-5
consider yourself prayed for. always and often.
until Arlington and beyond, i will pray that God’s vision you have shared will become reality. consider yourself loved, man.