Vegetables of the Spirit

Lately every time Elizabeth picks up an edible plant she asks me if it's a fruit or a vegetable. For most common plants I just know the popular determination of fruit vs. vegetable:

apple == fruit
celery == vegetable
orange == fruit
cauliflower == vegetable
watermelon == fruit
tomato == fruit (did I catch you with that one?)

So the follow-up questions always sends chills up my spine: What made it a fruit? Why is that a vegetable? What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? For several weeks I stumbled and mumbled my way through some bogus, nearly right explanation. Today I finally decided to look it up for real. I was tired of feeling foolish. I went to the handy-dandy Wikipedia and within in a matter of second I had an answer...

A fruit is the ripened ovary—together with seeds—of a flowering plant. In many species, the fruit incorporates the ripened ovary and surrounding tissues. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds. Fruits are the part of the plant that is intended to reproduce.

Vegetable is a culinary term which generally refers to an edible part of a plant. The definition is traditional rather than scientific and is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. All parts of herbaceous plants eaten as food by humans, whole or in part, are normally considered vegetables. The meaning of "plant grown for food" was not established until the 18th century.

Botanically, fruits are reproductive organs (ripened ovaries containing one or many seeds), while vegetables are vegetative organs which sustain the plant.

My church spent most of Lent talking about the Fruit of the Spirit, so upon reading this definition, I had a fairly quick "ah-ha" moment. In may seem kind of silly, but one of the first things I thought was, "So that's why the Bible never talks about vegetables... they didn't have a name back then." But as the day wore on, I started to think about this more and more...

Galatians 5:22 - 23 tells us the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Many of these fruits seem like they're gifts to bearer - after all, don't we all like to feel love, joy, and peace. Doesn't it make us feel good when we're patient and kind to others and when they're patient and kind with us? These are all things that are pleasing for us. So like the sweet, juicy bite of an apple, the experience of the fruits of the Spirit could easily be enough of an ends. That would be enough of a reason for these things to exist.

But the pleasure of eating an apple isn't really the reason the apple exists. An apple exists to allow the apple tree to procreate - to make more apple trees - to expand the size and density of the apple grove. And get this, we can savor the lovely flesh of the apple, ingest all of it nutrients, and then plant the seeds in the ground allowing the apple to fulfill its destiny of procreation. Mixing metaphors, we can have the cake and eat it, too.

So, why does the Spirit produce the fruits love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Aren't these all things we covet? These are things that make our lives better. If we bathe ourselves in the Spirit and live a life of gentleness and goodness - it brings us pleasure. Peace, love, and faithfulness make us feel content and safe. Who would turn their back on true joy? Self-control gives us the ability to order our lives and to seek the things we really want. It also breeds a sense of safety because you can trust yourself and those around you - behavior will be predictable. The fruits of the Spirit are all things that we can savor in the here and now. Like the sweetness of the apple, they give us pleasure.

But interestingly, that really isn't their ultimate destiny is it? Their real purpose is to grow the Kingdom of God. They make the experience of the Kingdom thicker and lusher for those of us that are currently seeking it. They also attract new people to the Kingdom. Doesn't everyone want love and joy, kindness and goodness? The gifts attract people to the Spirit by allowing them to experience the Kingdom through the acts of those bearing the fruit. If you experience enough love and patience; wouldn't you want to find out more about its source? It also attracts the curious asking how they can have this, too. So the Fruits of the Spirit really are about procreation of the Kingdom of God.

But that leads me to the question - do we need vegetables of the Spirit? Vegetables are vegetative organs which sustain the plant. Does the Church need spiritual vegetables to sustain itself? I think it does - in fact, I think the church already has vegetables of the Spirit - we just don't call them by that name. I purpose the Vegetables of the Spirit are prayer, study, common experience, and leadership. There may be more, and I reserve the right to append to the list, but let's look at what we've got.

Prayer is the mechanism by which we talk to God. Prayer allows us to commune with Him. It is a direct and personal experience of God. We can debate about if / how / when God answers prayer. But regardless of the theoretical debates about how it words, when you get right down to it, prayer is an event that fills us, nourishes us, and allows us to continue on our path with God.

In this context, I'm using the word study fairly loosely. It could be Bible Study; it could be theoretical theological exploits, or a group of people talking about their personal experiences of God, God's word, God's love, whatever. In other words, it's a place and time to learn about God and our faith; to expand our understanding and appreciation for its greatness.

Common experience allows us to form bonds and relationships. It is through these experiences and relationships that we allow each other to experience both the fruits and the vegetables of the Spirit. As we grow closer to each other, take care of each other, and love each other we nourish both ourselves and those with whom we share the experience.

Leadership has been getting a bad rap lately. Some folks see leadership as oppressive, harsh, and overbearing. Truthfully, it can be. But isn't it also true that all good things can be misused and misguided. Just because someone has had a bad experience with leadership doesn't make leadership inherently bad. Good leadership is about vision. It's about embracing the common path and enabling the individual members and the group as a whole to reach their full potential and their desired destination. It is human nature to need leadership. Without it we flounder and get lost. We become distracted and lose our way. Leadership is not about the leader. Good leadership is about the health of the group. A good leader enables an environment where each person can choose to grow and allow themselves to be nourished.

Just like the USDA food pyramid teaches us, a healthy church needs to get enough of their fruits and vegetables on a daily basis to maintain health.