I was reading this morning in Isaiah and the thought occurred to me, I hope my church never sings this song:
The Song of the Vineyard
I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.
Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.
What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?
Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.
I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.”
The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.
Isaiah 5:1-7 NIV
The Song of the Vineyard is sung when there’s fertile ground (ample opportunity), choice plantings (talented people), and a watchtower (strong leadership), but the vineyard (church) yields no good fruit.
This is a word for me as a church planter. This passage is not talking about a lack of growth, it’s talking about the failure to produce a good harvest. The goal at our church is the same as any other Bible-believing, Christ-honoring church. We want to produce growing disciples of Jesus Christ. We want people to look, act, and sound more like Jesus. We want to be lovers of God and lovers of people. We want to be holy, because He is holy. If we keep that as our aim, and allow God’s Spirit to work His way in our midst, we will never have to sing the Song of the Vineyard.
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