God Grew That Garden: Bekah Beck Dixon

“Look at God!”

I said this in disbelief as I walked outside to see little okra seedlings sprouting out of my garden. See, I had planted those seeds 3 weeks prior and eventually conceded to the local wisdom that I hadn’t paid enough attention to the weather, planted them too early, and given them over to rot. But, lo and behold, 3 long weeks after I set them in the dirt, which was 1 long week after they were supposed to sprout, their little leaves emerged. It was an unexpected joy that felt like nothing short of a miracle. 

Around this time every year, one of the elders at my local church, a man named Mr. Jesse, speaks of his crops by saying, “God grew that garden.” Unless you met him and encountered his sincerity, you might be inclined to just brush off his comment as a trite aphorism. But if you know him, you’ll know that he’s telling the absolute truth. No matter how much time or effort Mr. Jesse puts into planting and watering, he praises God for the fruit of the earth. God grows his garden just like God sprouted my little okra seeds. This miracle of growth reminds me of Paul’s words, 

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and one who waters are one in the work, and each will receive their reward according to their labor. For we are fellow workers who belong to God. (1 Corinthians 3:6-9a, translation by Anthony C. Thisleton, emphasis mine)

This is an interesting passage to read if you’ve ever done any amount of gardening, yourself. Plainly put, gardening is a lot of work, and there are definitely things you can do to dramatically increase or decrease your chances of a good harvest. Yet, in these verses we read that “neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything.” When Paul was coming up with these words, he was writing to a Corinthian church fraught with power struggles and personality competitions. One leader is not better than another, Paul says, because they are all serving in the same work. And, no amount of planting or watering can increase your yield if other conditions are not right. In the same way, no amount of sheer effort or reliance on marketing strategies will sustainably produce the fruit of the kingdom of God. Efforts of these kinds, one theologian says, are bound to produce fruit that is sterile. That might be disheartening, especially if you are convinced that all your labor is for the kingdom of God. 

During my time as an intern at The Wesley, I had this recurring intrusive thought, “What if I’m somehow contributing to the downfall of The Wesley?” A dramatic thought, I know, but it was motivated by that perpetual fear that I was somehow missing the mark. Somehow neglecting to invite all the people I could. Neglecting to facilitate all the intentional conversations. Or, neglecting to play the perfect songs during worship. This fear was rooted in my forgetting that God grows the garden. I was simply a hired hand. 

Don’t be mistaken. These words from Paul are not telling us that our labor is in vain. While God is the one who gives the growth, still Paul planted. Still, Apollos watered. It is God’s great invitation to us to join in His work. We have the joy of sharing the Gospel, befriending people, baptizing them, discipling them, admonishing them, and praying for them. For we are fellow workers who belong to God. The work is not our own, but a shared one. It is the kind of work that produces real fruit. The kind that goes on to bear more fruit after we are long gone. 

This generational co-laboring is a key part of Wesley’s internship structure. When I first arrived at The Wesley, students and interns alike would tell stories of how previous interns and ministry directors had impacted their lives. Our current ministry director, Ryan Ford, as well as many folks on the Board of Directors were members of The Wesley in their college days. They were tended to and cared for, and, in turn, decided to tend to and care for the folks who came after them. As a product of The Wesley, I often wonder about how much my spiritual life has been blessed by folks I will never meet. This is perhaps the best antidote for nihilistic or neurotic approaches to Christian ministry. People might never know our name, yet be saved because of the grace of God revealed through our witness. We might never see the full harvest, yet we labor knowing that God is faithful to His word. 

God is the one who grows the garden. Celebrate the fruit as a gift. 

Bekah Beck Dixon (pictured here with husband/former Wesley intern Robert Dixon) is a former Wesley intern that is an endless blessing to our community. Her joyful spirit, tenacity, servant’s heart, and faithfulness have encouraged countless people in our community in their walk with Christ. She is completing her final year of the Master of Divinity/Master of Social Work program at both Duke Divinity School and UNC-Chapel Hill and continues to bless and encourage those around her. A great friend and a lover of long walks, podcasts, and vegetables, Bekah is an example of what it looks like to live a life of faithful service to Christ.