GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 4:28
Lesson of the Elevator
I worked on a project that involved building a material elevator. This elevator was intended to hoist material from one process to another, so it was in the middle. We completed the elevator and secured it in place; however, we never completed the first project, so the elevator sat unused—complete, but unused—for several years until it was eventually removed to make way for another use. To be successful, a project needs a beginning, a middle, and an end.
On the news recently was a story about a ten-year-old boy who took his parents’ automobile for a joyride. A patrolman noticed that the driver had to look through the space between the dashboard and the steering wheel in order to see the road. Thinking that something was not right, the officer pulled the driver over. Fortunately, the youngster made the prudent choice to pull the car to the side of the road, and the incident ended safely. The story might get a smile, but the driver was in between—between childhood and adulthood. He had some years of growing to do before he was allowed to drive an automobile on the highway. The young driver needed, driver’s training, and licensing.
As Jesus taught his disciples: “And he said to them, ‘The kingdom of God is like a man casting seed upon the earth. And he sleeps and gets up night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, how, he himself does not know. By itself, the earth brings forth fruit—first a blade, then an ear, then the full grain in the ear.’” (Mark 4:26-28) Writers generally accept the idea that the grain in this parable represents the gospel. They differ, however, about whether the soil, the earth, in this particular parable represents the population, the crowd, or an individual heart. Each rendering has merit.
If this parable represents the gospel sown in the individual heart, there must be preparation—no hard soil, no rocky soil, and weeds removed. In such prepared soil, the seed sprouts, grows, and produces full grain—a step-by-step process. By this parable, as well as by observation and experience, the lesson is not to start in the middle—there must first be planting, then the growth, then the maturity. The elevator without the first and last process sat useless. The boy, without first maturing, then training, then driving, was a danger. That same principle works in the Christian world—planting, growth, and maturity—the growth is crucial.
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