Dive into the captivating concept of cultivating kingdom ecosystems! Inspired by the documentary 'The Biggest Little Farm,' the discussion showcases the journey of transforming barren landscapes and the importance of biodiversity. Learn how revitalizing spiritual communities parallels enriching soil and fostering inclusivity. Discover the value of patience and resilience in building sustainable growth, while exploring the gradual nature of disciple-making movements. Embrace the challenges and celebrate the beauty of slow, meaningful progress!
Cultivating kingdom ecosystems focuses on fostering diverse relationships within communities to promote organic growth rather than isolating structures.
Emphasizing patience and creativity in community leadership reflects the journey of sustainable farming, showcasing that long-term growth requires thoughtful, responsive solutions.
Deep dives
The Importance of Ecosystems Over Castles
The discussion highlights the concept of focusing on building ecosystems rather than castles within communities. By metaphorically comparing castles to church structures that isolate and protect, the idea emphasizes that larger structures often push marginalized individuals further away from resources. When leaders concentrate on expanding their castles, it detracts from the communal vision, leading to environmental and relational suffering. This shift in mindset encourages cultivating relationships and environments where growth can flourish organically rather than through artificial means.
Drawing Inspiration from Biodiversity
Inspiration is drawn from sustainable farming practices showcased in the documentary 'The Biggest Little Farm,' where the emphasis is on biodiversity. The film illustrates how a couple restores a degraded farm by implementing various farming techniques that encourage a thriving ecosystem, which ultimately produces a flourishing agricultural environment. This leads to the realization that, like in farming, community-building requires embracing diversity and allowing different elements to interact beneficially. By fostering this diversity within community initiatives, spiritual richness can be cultivated, allowing individuals and groups to thrive together.
Navigating Setbacks with Creativity
Setbacks are framed as opportunities to observe and learn rather than crises to fix immediately. The farming couple faced numerous challenges but learned to wait, observe, and creatively respond to problems, such as the introduction of ducks to control the snail population threatening their fruit trees. This reflects a broader principle in community leadership, where instead of quick fixes, there is value in allowing time to develop thoughtful, sustainable solutions to emerging problems. It reinforces the idea that patience and creativity are critical components in nurturing growth within both agricultural and community contexts.
Seeking the Kingdom Through Community
The dialogue concludes with a reaffirmation of seeking the kingdom of God as a priority, emphasizing the need to distribute hope, resources, and community more broadly. By focusing on fostering relationships and spiritual ecosystems rather than monocultural church growth, there is a potential for more diverse expressions of faith to emerge. The final thoughts assert that real growth takes time, much like the eight years it took to restore the farm, emphasizing that spiritual evolution often requires a longer perspective. Embracing this slow growth aligns with the biblical call to seek the kingdom first and allows communities to flourish naturally.
In this episode, Brian and Cory explore the idea of cultivating kingdom ecosystems. The truth is, this is a random one-off episode that we felt pressed to record after discussing the film The Biggest Little Farm, a documentary about sustainable farming. This film, that was all about the significance of biodiversity in restoration, provided so many affirmations that pursuing the smaller way through disciple-making and microchurches is how Jesus will bring the Kingdom in a city to restore the soil. We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed processing this one.
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