Prune to Bloom

During this time of the year, I’ve come to notice the plant life and greenery springing up from their winter hibernation. We have plants and flowers that regrow annually as the weather gets warmer and as days grow longer. What is more amazing is that the old, dead foliage from last year needs to be removed and discarded in order for the new, emerging vegetation to grow uninhibited. It requires some work and skill, but the results can be very beautiful and rewarding.
In some ways, the life of the church and its growth is similar to this process. We need to consider what we are doing as a church, nurture what is working and prune what is not. In addition, we may need to reevaluate the ministries and programs of the church and sift through what is beneficial and what is a hindrance.
It is common that there are ‘seasons’ of the church that require us to keep some things intact and discard others. It is a principal that is endorsed in Ecclesiastes 3, as the writer affirms that there is a ‘time’ and ‘season’ for everything when it comes to embracing or surrendering such principles of life.
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
It may sound fickle-minded, but the reality is that the conditions of life change and require us to be flexible and pliable to such changes. It reminds me of people who defer to the past, saying “This is the way we have always done it”. While that might be the truth, it may not be the best way to do things now. Who would buy a car without air conditioning because that the way it was 50 years ago? How about a house without a furnace? I don’t believe that there are too many people who would purchase a new home with only a wood burning stove.
The one perpetual, fixed element is the absolute truths of God. Even so, we are required to bring a relative application to those truths in order for people to relate to them. The methods that worked 50, 30, and even 20 years ago may not be the most effective approaches today. The author of Ecclesiastes seems to be on to something when presenting this notion.
There is a time when we need to evaluate where we are, where we are going, and how we are getting there. This is applicable, both as individuals and collectively, as the church. The most important aspect to both is for God to be the one in which we would follow so that He receives glory and honor for the sake of his kingdom.