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What Type of Leaven Are YOU?
Among the many parables Jesus taught is this gem: “The kingdom of
heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of
meal till it was all leavened” (Matthew 13:33). Here was a spiritual
lesson about the influence in and of the kingdom. Jesus’ kingdom
citizens are intended to be “leaven,” an active working influence
for good in the world.
Leaven, or yeast, is a remarkable agent when placed in a lump of
dough. Just a little bit will spread itself throughout the entire piece.
So it is with spiritual leaven. Zeal, devotion, life, and
activity in a few for good can leaven an entire congregation for good.
What a treasure they are who are constantly busying themselves in
righteousness and are, by their example, influencing others to do so as
well. Leaven indeed.
This is, however, not the only type of spiritual “leaven”
the Bible speaks of. Elsewhere the Scriptures warn about the leavening
influence of inactivity, lukewarmness, false doctrine, and immorality.
“Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?”
Paul asked the Corinthian disciples when they allowed a fornicator to go
unreproached (1 Corinthians 5:6). “A little leaven leavens the whole
lump,” he said to the Galatian churches who were tolerating some
false teaching (Galatians 5:9).
It behooves each of us to ask, “What type of leaven do I
constitute?” (Please note: we ALL are influencing others to some extent
by our lives... and denying it won‘t change the fact.)
Are we helping the church, and the church the world? or are we,
rather, being a hindrance to our brethren and, consequently, influencing
others to follow suit.
What type of leaven are you?
--Mike Noble
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