Pastor's Corner

What is it to be human? Why are we who we are? The way we are? Way back, theology offered an answer: you are who God, or the gods, made you to be. Nothing you can do about it. As time went on, that answer was called into question. Many other ideas sprang up. Psychology says you are who you think you are. Your self-identification and “will” makes you what you are. Sociology says you are a product of your environment: you are who other people cause you to be. This is a big oversimplification, but they all have a case to make. Nature vs. Nurture. I think we are making this narrower that it should be.

The Bible often describes God like a gardener. This being spring, I have donned my gardener’s hat as well. The first thing I do is select seeds. I want certain plants to grow, so by my will, I decide what to plant, which varieties, and how many. The plant has no say in this matter. I decide this and prep the seeds by soaking them and making sure they are primed to grow into all I desire them to be. I also work to prepare the environment I will place them into (the vegetable beds).

Some of the seeds are stronger and more viable than others, depending on the parent plant. When I plant the seed, I turn over a fair amount of control to other forces. The soil, weather, and pests all impact the growth of the plant. The environment comes into play.

The plant actually has a will too. If you don’t believe me, observe how your houseplants lean toward the light. See how the roots grow to locate where the water pools up in the pot. The plant, while not really sentient, desires to thrive and grow. It fights for itself. It seeks its own destiny, so to speak. It does all it can to succeed.

Someday, in the fullness of time, we will see the results- did the plant grow well, create good seeds of its own? Is it tasty and fulfilling the purpose to which I, the gardener created it? When all is said and done, what made the plant what it became? Was it the creator, the environment, or the will of the plant itself? The answer of course is all of them.

Each piece was needed. The creator who planned and initiated the process, the parentage and environment of the plant, and the strength and character of the plant itself as it fought with all it had to face the challenges life presented it with. This is free will.

We all have the responsibility to honor the wishes of the Gardener, work for a healthy environment for us all, and to fight for our own health and success. This is what makes you and me what we are: a dance between the will of God, the will of others, and our own will. If you look closely, you can see all three components in Jesus’ famous statement about what life is all about.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’. There is no commandment greater than these.” Translation: Love God. Love others. Believe in yourself.

Pastor Evan Elwell

Pomeroy Church of the Nazarene