CPR

I grew up between "the town" and the "the country." This resulted in some level of identity confusion for me. The folks out in the country thought I was a town kid... and everyone knows that most town kids don't know enough to pull their hands out of their pockets and get to work. People in town thought I was from out in the country... and a bit too willing to talk about cows, pigs, chickens and the sometimes rather invasive procedures done to said animals when I was at the farm. In other words, it took me a while to catch on to the fact that discussion about castrating pigs should not be included in polite dinner conversation.

I must admit that, according to my daughters, I still bring up inappropriate topics of conversation.

Now, having said that, Su is not always the best help for me in developing politically correct criteria for conversation. As a nurse, she has been known to explore a variety of medical topics during our meals together. Believe me, you really do not want to know. After almost 36 years of marriage she is still capable of taking some of the joy away from my fried eggs, or, medium rare steak.

Believe it or not, my farm experiences were some of the best preparation I could have had for missionary service. Smells have never bothered me. That has been a big help in certain parts of Latin America. Out in the country you had to learn how to get up in the morning and do the next thing (without anyone looking over your shoulder). That has been a life-skill that has served me well as a missionary. I also learned that it takes some time to see the (literal) fruits of your labor. You may not see the results of the cultivating you do earlier in the year until October. Farming is not a microwave enterprise.

Of course, real Christianity is not an instant process either. In spite of all the self-help books in our virtual Christian bookstores, there is no magic bullet (besides God's grace) that gets anything done quickly in our faith walk. One example of this is evangelism and discipleship.

Building meaningful spiritual relationships requires our commitment to cultivating purposeful friendships. It takes time. Jesus cultivated by becoming a "friend to sinners" (Matthew 11:19) and spending a great deal of time with His disciples early in His public ministry (John 3:22). Cultivating relationships begins with a lifestyle of caring for people and being their friend. People matter to God and they should matter to us.

If all you did on the farm was prepare the soil, you would have no harvest in the fall. You have to plant seeds at the right time, at the right depth and in the right way. When we share the message of Jesus in the context of our cultivated friendships we should probably follow the same pattern. It does the cause of Christianity little good to hit people over the head with our message of hope at the wrong time and in the wrong way.

If we follow Jesus' model for cultivating and planting we may eventually be given the privilege of reaping. This will not happen if we do not present the real message of Jesus and invite people to respond. One of the dangers we must confront in pop Christianity is the tendency to add extra "stuff" to the plain-Jane message of the cross.

Cultivating, Planting, Reaping = CPR.

Because of her experience and professional training, Su is definitely the person you want hovering over you when you have a heart attack. She may encourage inappropriate medical discussions at the dinner table, but she definitely knows her CPR. While admittedly an abject failure with medical CPR, it is my hope that I will learn to live out the reality of cultivating, planting and reaping as Jesus did. It's not new; it's certainly not flashy. However, it is the last, best hope for passing on faith to the next generation.