I have a good friend who retired from what began as The Soil Conservation Service (it has since morphed into the NRCS—the Natural Resource Conservation Service). For 40 years he has served as a faithful steward of soil—a historically undervalued yet essential component of mankind’s ecosystem. To my shame, I have not had a proper understanding or respect for this agency. A book changed this; The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. It is a gripping account of the Great American Dust Bowl of the 1930’s.

Egan’s prose has stand-alone beauty, but it was not the literary aesthetic itself that drew me. Nor was it the history that was most compelling. It was the moral dimension of this story—a deeply troubling sowingand-reaping account of the Great American Dustbowl where ambition and folly trumped stewardship, resulting in the worst ecological disaster in U.S. history.

A series of sins against man and against the earth led to a living nightmare lasting a decade. The killing of the buffalo, the eradication of Native Americans, and the misuse of the plow ultimately effected 100 million acres of pristine grasslands and displaced a quarter of a million people. It turned out the soil was not just dirt, it was as an integral component of life. In profound ignorance, man removed the earth’s skin and reaped the whirlwind.

Soil is a fascinating and complex mixture of minerals, organisms, gasses and liquids, which become the medium for plant growth, which in turn sustains animals and humans. Perhaps that is why it also served as Jesus’ go-to metaphor in explaining the kingdom of God:

 The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows-how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. (Mark 4:26-29)

             The soil produces crops by itself. This parable reveals that Life is in the Soil. It turns out man is a bit-payer. He does nothing more than cast seed. He goes to bed leaving the seed to the soil and the seed sprouts and grows. How does this happen? Man himself does not know. It is a mystery.

Many are looking at Christianity, particularly in the west, and wondering why the gospel of Jesus Christ has had no more effect than it has on culture. With a God like ours, why are we reaping a whirlwind of moral and social decline? Is it possible we too have misunderstood the Soil and undervalued its essential part in the ecosystem of God’s kingdom?

It is difficult to fault the efforts the Church has made in saving souls by way of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The notion that, “the saving of a soul” is an incomplete idea sounds like a sacrilege—a big slap in the face to Billy Graham. But a question remains: Why is our culture blowing away before our eyes? That question leads me to ask another: What happens to people after they walk the aisle and pray the prayer? It seems whatever religion we get at the altar adds to church rolls but fails to transform us. Perhaps there needs to be a new agency created within the Church modeled after the NRSC, which was established because (as their statement of purpose says): “Wastage of soil resources… is a menace to the national welfare.”

It is great that gospel seed is being sown and that souls are being saved, but let’s consider a new agency with a mission to expand the meaning of salvation to include the soul’s transformation. Like the NRSC, it will be hard to launch because most have not come to grips with erosion in the western church. Let’s call this organization the HRCS—The Heart Resource Conservation Service. It should be established because “the wastage of heart resources is a menace to the kingdom of God.”

The HRCS will not only honor Jesus Christ as the Messiah, saving men from hell, it will also honor him as Life itself, equipping man to live. The agency’s motto will be, “Christ is our Life – in him we live and move and have our being.” The agency’s mission will be to train its agents, who will in turn train others in the stewardship of their hearts. Unlike previous efforts at reform, renewal and revival, the HRCS will keep in mind that the soil produces crops by itselfMan himself does not know how this works.

The HRSC, honoring the mystery that Life is in the Soil, will help many discover the treasures of Christ in us and us in Christ. They will show that since the kingdom of God is within us, the harvest is indeed white. They will equip many to enter into intimacy with God, which had previously existed more as a proposition than an experiential reality. The heart-conservation movement will one day see the harvest come and the sickle employed

Perhaps a book will one day be published called The Greatest Hard Time, the gripping account of The Great American Awakening of the 21st Century. It too will be a story of sowing and reaping. Through their stewardship efforts, the HRSC will be credited for their part in reversing the erosive-trends within western Christianity. The book will tell of their efforts in further revealing God’s mystery as the overlooked source of Life. Note: On top of the job I have put in for as Chief Steward of North America’s National Parks, I would also like to volunteer to write this book.

And… perhaps it will be said of us, at the end of our careers, that we too were faithful stewards of the Soil, those who had done their part in the conservation of The Kingdom—God’s ultimate eco-system. Our retirement watches will be engraved with these words: “Stewardship has trumped ambition and folly.”

Father, having left the seed to the Soil, we look forward to waking up to see a harvest. As we read your book, we see an administration, in-Christ, which will be suitable toward these ends. May we listen to you, Holy Spirit, as God’s agent on earth. Have your way with our hearts both individually and corporately. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.

 

 

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