Organic Spiritual Formation - Chapter 6 Polish, or Lack Thereof

Back on the farm, apples were a favorite commodity. We never grew them for sale, but for our own use. Our apples were grown organically, without any chemical sprays or commercial fertilizers. I learned early on to take a good look at every bite and was generally only alarmed when I found half a worm—because that meant I had probably consumed the other half!

When I started taking horticultural classes in high school, I learned all about chemical sprays and commercial fertilizers that would eliminate the worms and diseases that disfigured our apples. My dad was of the old school, however, and wouldn’t budge on that point. I personally think he was more opposed to spending money on chemicals or fertilizer than he was in favor of organic farming methods. He was a practical man and after all, we had plenty of manure on the farm for fertilizer, and could easily cut the wormy or bad parts out of the apples before we made applesauce, cider, or pies. Besides, I had to admit they generally tasted better than the store-bought varieties.

My ag teacher in high school taught us about chemical sprays for orchard use, and also about the importance of marketing to the consumer. I mentioned my dad’s reluctance to spray our apple trees, and he said, “Your dad could never sell those apples in the store. Nobody wants to buy a wormy or diseased apple.” He was right. All the apples in the store in those days were waxed, polished and red—fit for the teacher’s desk. Unless they are organically produced, commercially grown apples for the consumer market are pampered, sprayed, washed, waxed, and polished before they make it to the grocery shelf. No wonder they cost up to $3 a pound or more these days! What consumers don’t realize is that those are only the best, the primo apples from the tree. Their siblings ended up as apple juice or in the makings for applesauce, apple pie, dried apples, or some type of apple filling for a donut or dessert.

In contrast, organic apples, even those sold in the grocery store, are generally a bit smaller, and lack the eye-popping polish of the commercial variety. The typical orchard run organically grown apple would not win any prizes for appearance. It must be accepted for what it is, worms, warts, blemishes, and all. But for me, an apple is not an object to be placed in a fruit bowl for observation; it is an object to be consumed. And I must admit, I prefer the organically grown variety for both aroma and taste, hands down.

Imperfect apples grow in the real world. Jesus was the perfect Son of God, but he gathered some un-perfect apples around him, including at least one very bad one. After three years of training, they still were not very polished—not much of his perfection had rubbed off on them. And we learn from this that the process of organic spiritual formation is not always accomplished in a well-oiled institutional machine, using polished people and programs. Organic spiritual formation occurs in the real world, with worms, warts, diseases, and all. The transformation from a bad apple to a good one is what Jesus is all about. He works to polish out our imperfections, even though we don’t always look too polished in the process.

The modern world was fascinated with polish. Slick magazines, glitzy advertising, neon lights, patent leather shoes, candy apple red trucks with chrome ornamentation, sparkling jewelry, and shiny cases to display our gilded trophies all contributed to the bling and glitter of the twentieth and early twenty-first century ethos of success. We don’t have to look very far to see that this same fascination has crept into the church.

With the advent of television ministries in the 1950’s, many pastors and church leaders felt the need to improve every component of the worship service in order to compete with growing religious media voices. For most small congregations, the competition was definitely an uphill battle. And it is a battle that existed mainly in the minds of leaders, as there really is no way of comparing the impact or effectiveness of a radio, television or media “ministry” in fostering spiritual formation with the impact or effectiveness of a local church.

During my growing up years, I can remember mom and dad watching Oral Roberts, Rex Humbard, and Jerry Falwell on Sunday morning television before our own church services. Later, when I became a pastor back in 1977, I faced Sunday morning congregants who had already heard singing accompanied by professional musicians and an entertaining message all neatly packaged into a 30 minute program that included some serious time dedicated to nothing but fundraising. I was twenty-two years old, my congregation numbered less than fifty, and our annual budget was less than $15,000.00. “Pastor, Rex Humbard really preached a great message this morning. Did you watch? And that daughter of his can really sing!” Without people and resources, how was I to compete?

But we have tried. In the past few decades we have promoted slicker bulletins, ever more dazzling PowerPoint or MediaShout presentations during worship or the sermon, and tried to outdo each other for the coolest websites and most extravagant buildings. We have choreographed and scripted our services in a minute-by-minute format to pack as much energy and enthusiasm as possible into those sixty or ninety minutes on Sunday morning. As a pastor for nearly thirty years, I have witnessed the evolution and for the most part been a willing participant.

However, as the results of the Reveal Survey bear witness, I have been forced to ask the question, “How is it working for us?” And to ask even more personally, “How is it working for me?” I remember my first attempts at using PowerPoint to illustrate my sermon and trying to coordinate the slides with the major points. It frustrated both me and my audience. Growing more proficient in the technology with use, I eventually would spend hours each week building a PowerPoint presentation to go along with my sermon, along with a published manuscript which was distributed to the congregation during all three morning services, and also posted to our website. I felt like I was doing a good job of “getting the Word out” and training my congregation. In the end, though gnawing questions made me wonder.

Organic spiritual formation is not a polished, linear process that can be easily reproduced with a curriculum or template that works everywhere. So much depends upon geography, community context, and generational differences. Even the climate makes a difference. I have visited a number of large churches in Southern California that make use of outdoor spaces for everything from small group meeting places to baptismal pools, bookstores or prayer stations. It seems to be working great for them, but that particular strategy would never work for colder climes in most of North America. Jesus interacted in different ways with different people in different places to produce spiritual growth as we shall see in the following chapters.

This is a short excerpt from Chapter 6 of the book I've been working on the past year, Organic Spiritual Formation -- in progress. I hope to have all 12 chapters completed within the next few months. (c) 2009 Don Detrick