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Title: Are You "Root-Bound"?
by Jill Peterson
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ARE YOU ‘ROOT-BOUND’?
By Jill Peterson
Are any of you gardeners out there? If you are, then you know what
a plant that is “root- bound looks like. The idea for this came to me as
I was working in one of my flower beds, trying to get it planted before
the plants that I had bought died on me. The pansies were already way ahead
of me–they needed planted, or they would soon die. When you take a plant
out of its cozy little home of a cell-pack to plant in your garden, have
you ever noticed that the roots have grown around and around it, so all
you see is white roots, and hardly any dirt? That is being root bound.
The plant has used up all the nourishment from the soil and became “root
bound”. The roots are literally choking the very life out of the plant,
and in order for the plant to thrive, it has to be taken out of the container
it has conformed itself to, and placed in a larger container. Sometimes
the roots even have to be cut, or tore apart, to encourage the roots to
reach deeper and outward for the space and nutrients it’s new home offers.
By now I am sure some of you are wondering where I am going with this–what
does this have to do with being a Christian? Good question. Let’s take
a look at Ephesians and see what we find:
...(17)...And I pray that you, being rooted and established
in love, (18) may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how
wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
Ephesians 4: 17b-18 (NIV)
I really encourage you to take a moment right now, and go get your Bible,
open it to Ephesians, chapter 4, and read verses 14 through 21. This is
Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, and it is one of my favorite scripture
passages. Study it and contemplate these few verses, they are well worth
pondering over.
Back to being root bound–well, I believe that being root bound is a
very real danger and trap for many Christians, me included. We like to
be comfortable. We like things to be familiar, and we DON”T like being
taken out of our “comfort zone”! Yet, in order for Christ to work through
us, and in order for us to “grow in Christ”, we NEED taken out of our comfort
zone! In order for me to grow, God took me way out of my comfort zone–my
church. We get attached to our church buildings, our church family, and
the way our church does certain things in a certain way. I’m not saying
these things are bad, but if no growth is occurring, than what does it matter
what church (or container) you go to? It might be comfortable, and non-threatening,
but its not letting you grow into the kind of Christian God intends for
you to be.
After two years of deep soul searching, my husband and I felt that God was
leading our family to begin attending another church, and leave the church
that I grew up in. Leave all that was familiar–the building, people, customs,
etc. and go out into the world and find a new church (container), in which
we could grow. It was VERY scary. It was so hard to go into another church,
get to know other people, see if a church provided Bible based teaching
and was lead by a God-centered pastor, it was definitely a time of trusting
God. Did we trust God enough to go where He was leading us? I must confess
that I felt like my “roots” were cut apart, tore wide open, and the whole
experience left me feeling like I’d never put down roots again. It was
a painful process, but God is faithful. We found a wonderful church to
attend, and God has provided us with many ways to grow there. On Sunday
mornings we can’t wait to get to church, our pastor delivers such wonderful
sermons, and we just soak them up like sponges!
That was over a year
ago, and now we look back and can’t believe how much we have grown! We
have had opportunities to be involved in several small group Bible Studies
that we would never have been exposed to before. We’ve met wonderful new
friends, and saw in the short time we have been there, this little country
church experience a growth spurt like it’s never seen before. That is
bringing our congregation to another test—we are becoming “root bound”
in our church. Do we add on, build a new church, unite with other area
churches and become one church, or do we stay in our comfortable, familiar,
cozy church and let things just remain the same? Only much prayer will
determine what God wants us to do in this situation, but I do know from
experience that sometimes in order for God to really pour out His blessing
on you, and for you to experience “how wide and long, and high and deep”
His love really is for you, then we have to be willing to step out onto
a ledge of faith, and give up the things that we hold on to in the name
of religion, so that we can truly experience His power at work in our lives.
Let's make sure that we are "rooted and established in love", and not holding
on to things that will hinder our growth.
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