Our Bamboo Church

Here are some similarities I have found between churches and bamboo:

• Bamboo is strong. Its tensile strength is stronger than steel. It’s impossible to break a mature bamboo cane in two.
• It improves the environment it lives in. It swallows up greenhouse gases and removes toxins from water and soil. Different parts of the bamboo, including leaves, roots, shoots and rhizomes, all play their individual roles in the clean-up.
• It is versatile, being utilised for flooring, furniture, bedding and clothing. 
• It provides food and nourishment - for humans as well as pandas.
• It has healing properties which activate our immune system.
• It grows best when it is pruned. The more it is harvested, the faster it grows.

If you disregard the details specific to bamboo, its character traits are very similar to us. 

Here’s another piece of bamboo trivia that can apply to many churches I’ve heard about:

One species of bamboo has a remarkable growth pattern. The farmer will see nothing for five years after he’s planted it. During all the weeks, months and years of waiting, the farmer must faithfully care for the plant and water it daily.

But after five years, explosive growth happens. The bamboo will grow 30m in just 90 days!

Here’s a question to ponder: When did the plant actually grow? During the first five years, or during those last 90 days? In the first five years, although growth wasn’t obvious, the roots were growing strong, preparing itself to support the incredible heights the plant would eventually reach once it burst out of the ground.

So don’t lose hope if you don’t see signs of your church growing. You just might belong to a bamboo church. Keep faithfully caring and watering, and let God cause the growth to happen — at the perfect time. 

Hope I haven’t bamboo-zled you.