When the World Wants More

What do we do when the World wants more than we have to give? More than we should be giving it?

While teaching my students about powers, principalities and idols, I try to help them see that there is a predatory nature to these things: they want from us what does not rightly belong to them. Devotion. Worship. Sacrifice. Life-blood.

Now, when I say powers and principalities, I don't simply mean shadowy, supernatural creatures either tempting individuals or directing spiritual warfare. I do include those kinds of things as part of the mix - Ephesians 6 includes spiritual forces of evil and cosmic powers - but I also include very human forms of organisation. When the New Testament talks about these powers, the words used include references to governors, councils, nations and national rulers, religious organisation. Humans tend to cooperate with the powers and principalities in ways that cause harm to ourselves and others.

So what does this have to do with the Art of Vinemaking (see video above).

Jesus used earthy, human parables to help us understand his kingdom rhythm and rule. He knew that the World was asking more than it should from us, from him. The Satan wanted Jesus' allegiance and worship. The World wants ours. Sometimes this looks like moral compromise for material gain or for political power. but more often, for many of us, it means losing ourselves in a productivity-driven culture.

When we picture ourselves as consumers, or as products, we have lost something of our foundational humanity. We were created to be in right relationship with God, with ourselves, with each other, and with the soil around us. We were made to bear good fruit. But that will only happen if we yield to the pace and rhythm of the Great Vinemaker. The learn to be at rest, to take care of our roots, to allow ourselves to be pruned, is a revolutionary act. it stands in opposition to the idolatrous demands of the powers and principalities of our time.

Bette Dickinson has created a powerful new book and course/cohort that guides us gently yet persistently into this revolution. We invite you to explore this art of vinemaking together with us by ordering her book and joining a course or cohort. This is a way of investing deeply in yourself and standing in resistance to a World that wants from you what it was never meant to have.

Learn more here: The Art of Vinemaking