According to its Kind
Things multiply “according to their kind.” When God created plants, they bore seeds according to their kinds, and trees according to their kinds, sea and land creatures according to their kinds. (Genesis 1)
People also multiply according to their kind – in many ways. First, people produce people. They also produce people of their physical likeness – nationality, skin, muscle structure, hair, etc. The likenesses go much deeper than the skin, however. There are often emotional and intellectual components of family likeness. Genetic and other kinds of likenesses can mysteriously and curiously flow through family lines in peculiar and curious ways. Sometimes “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree;” and sometimes it falls very far from the tree and seems to roll back under the tree later. You may not look like your parents at all, but you may have the mannerisms or facial expressions of a distant relative that you have not met. Or, you may not seem like your parents or siblings at one point in your life, yet be very much like them at another stage. The general truth remains – we reproduce according to our kind, and sometimes with greater likeness than we would like to admit.
This is also true spiritually. We tend to produce disciples that look very much like us. When you invest your spiritual understanding and life into others, they seem to pick up many of your attributes. This can be scary, but it’s true. Jesus harshly addressed this with the Pharisees and teachers of the law. He said, “You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” (Matthew 23:15) Jesus was saying that they were making their followers into the same kind of legalistic, religious, judgmental, insecure, critical people as they themselves were. They were not reproducing gracious, life-giving followers because that was not what was in their own lives.
We can’t always do very much about the genetic traits we pass on to our children and grandchildren, but we can play an active role in what we pass on spiritually to our physical and spiritual children. What we “feed” on and focus on spiritually will shape our lives. We will pass on what we really believe and what motivates and impassions us. This is not just a matter of words – it goes deeper than that. Those who live within our spheres of influence, who are watching and possibly following our lead, will catch what we have spiritually. Our spiritual lives really are caught as much as they are taught. So, the apostle Paul wrote, “Follow me as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)
Are you worth following spiritually? Do you have much that is worth catching? Are there any changes you might want to make related to your spiritual diet and practice? These questions may sound a bit blunt, but they could be valuable. Possibly the best way to answer the questions is to ask some people close to you what they see in you. If you are too afraid to answer or ask others, then I encourage you to consider what you are – in fact – reproducing spiritually.
Investing in others with you,
Pastor Tom
tgriffith@rolcboston.org
