By Peter Sung, PacNWC Conference Coach
In an occupied human womb, at week three, 40 germ (stem) cells begin their two week migration to the reproductive region of the female embryo (which looks like a curled tadpole) and start dividing to become 10 million eggs, the final number of eggs that a single female human will carry for the rest of her life. This means that we carry inside of us, not just our future children but also our grandchildren. As one researcher put it, the biological imperative is not to make one other but to make an infinite generation of others. Or as another scientist says, “a chicken is just an egg’s way of making more eggs.”
These amazing biological facts confirm what I think I already know: I exist, not for my own perpetuation but for the flourishing of others. Or, to put it into both/and language: My perpetuation is through the flourishing of others. The Bible seems to say the same thing. The left bookend is God creating us in His image followed by his first command: Be fruitful and multiply. The right bookend is Jesus giving a final command to His followers: Make disciples. These thematically similar bookends are filled with the same imperative: Bless others. Love others. Give. Serve. Die. Seek the flourishing of others so that you too may live.
I’d like to offer three areas for application: One, personal. My life is mostly consumed with consuming. Ugh! Disappointingly true. How do I begin taking steps in the right direction? Two, culture. Our culture is consumed with consumption. Yuck! If I step back and just notice it, it’s quite disgusting! Let’s not keep getting sucked into it! And three, church. When did existing and maintaining become the everyday business of the church? Do we have better, missonal roots to return to?
I marvel at the thought that a baby in utero is busy and automatically making their own kids, all the while, the mom may not even be aware that she’s pregnant in the first place – that’s how definitive and hardwired the reproductive imperative is! Ultimately, we are not talking about biology or even human drives but who God is – He is Life. He is Source. From Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things – and the nature of His being, which is Love. It is Love that creates and gives and serves. So that’s why we plant churches that will plant churches. And this is how you, individually or as a church, can join God in what He has always been doing.